


Found ya!

by YingCas



Series: I'm looking for myself (in you) [1]
Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band)
Genre: Adoption, Adventure, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, And Yangyang is a part of the 00 gang because I say so, Coming of Age, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Growing Up, Happy family moments, Humor, I have watched a lot of 'find my family', I think that's about it, I'm updating the tags as I go so there is also, Implied Mpreg, Language Barrier, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mild Language, My poor attempt at writing smut, Partying, Renjun is stressed af, Sexuality Crisis, Slurs, Smut, So I'm like a professional, Texting, Totally, Underage Drinking, finding yourself, hmmmmm, side pairings, the boyz cameos, you don't have to know exo to read this, you know that TV show where people go looking for their missing relatives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-02-22 21:46:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 63,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23734228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YingCas/pseuds/YingCas
Summary: Donghyuck goes on an epic quest to find his biological parents, and finds something more on the way.That’s it. That’s the plot. Lots of humor, friendship, love, frustration and happy family moments inside, as well as some growing pains, bad decisions, and tears. But that’s just life.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Series: I'm looking for myself (in you) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770679
Comments: 243
Kudos: 618





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something with a lighter tone but as always, some darker themes got lost in there as well. Overall this is a happy story though since I feel like we all need an escape from reality now, and some Markhyuck mixed with the themes of growing up and some adventures work well for me. I had a blast writing this (I’m still in the process or writing this story but I’m somewhat done with the storyline so don’t worry. This won’t be left unfinished) so I hope you enjoy reading this as well!
> 
> Some facts you need to remember:  
> 1\. Korean school year starts in spring and ends at the end of the year. CSAT’s are taken in November and High school graduation is in February.  
> 2\. I aged up all of EXO by ten years. EXOs are not main characters or anything and if you don’t know EXO, you can still enjoy this story so don’t worry.  
> 3\. I’m using the basic rules of ABO. If you don’t know what that is then… google it. You’re going to get introduced to one of the weirdest and most beloved fanfic prompts on this website.
> 
> Disclaimer:  
> I don’t know these people. I’ve never met them in my life and I don’t claim to know anything about them. This is just a story I wrote for fun, I pulled everything out of my own imagination. I like to play with what-ifs.
> 
> Anyways, without further ado: enjoy!

Donghyuck heard about adoption for the first time when he was eight years old.

It was in school. He had gone home and asked his mother pretty straightforwardly about it, but his mother had just given him a lollipop and told him to go play. Donghyuck was easily won over with candy so he forgot about it then. But after that day there was a hunch born in his heart that never really died down. 

He started to notice things.

His eye color was so much lighter than his siblings’, and his parents had sharper features. Of course, he was a child and couldn’t look exactly like them anyway, but there was always that little voice that kept telling him that he was the black sheep of the family for a reason. It didn’t bother him all that much though, and he almost stopped thinking about it since his parents never confronted him about it. Genes worked weirdly, maybe he was just different by chance.

However, after he went into his first heat at fourteen, it became kind of obvious that there was something out of the ordinary there. Because he turned out to be a male omega.

Male Omegas weren’t unheard of, but they were the rarest type. And to be one, the person had to have almost straight linear heredity for it. Donghyuck had an omega mother and an alpha father, and none of his grandparents had been male omegas either. So.

Donghyuck had been adopted. So what? His parents sat him down at the kitchen table and acted as though it was a big revelation, but Donghyuck just shrugged and said that he didn’t care. His parents were still his, he didn’t care who had given him his genes. These people had raised him, so these people were his family. End of story. 

But when he was nearing his coming of age day, he got curious.

It’s hard to say where that came from. Donghyuck had sworn that he wouldn’t dig up anything about his biological parents but maybe it was natural for everyone to get interested in their roots at some point. He was finishing his studies in High school, leaving his safe childhood behind. He was still looking for who exactly he was, and maybe finding his parents - biological parents - would bring him some answers. 

So, he asked his mother about it over a cup of tea.

She didn’t look offended or hurt by Donghyuck’s question, but instead as though she had expected it. 

“I don’t know anything about them if I’m honest”, she ruffled through the drawer Donghyuck had always been told not to look into. Of course, he had looked into it, back when he had been younger. But all he had found was boring papers and envelopes, so he hadn’t dug very deep.

Maybe he should have. Or... Well, maybe he wouldn’t have been ready for whatever it was that his mother was currently looking for, anyway. 

“Ah”, his mother pulled an envelope out from the lowest box and kicked it shut before returning to the table. Donghyuck eyed it with interest - it was a plain white envelope with just _“Donghyuck”_ written on it. Little Donghyuck would have found that interesting - how had he never found that in there?

Oh right. He also got bored easily.

“We got you from an orphanage when you were only six months old”, his mother explained to him. That was new information - Donghyuck had always just thought that he had been adopted just like any other adopted kid, exchanged in the hospital when he had been born or something. But it had been a different story? 

“You had been left outside the door, in a small basket. That was illegal, of course, but the people working in the orphanage simply couldn’t leave you out there to starve so they took you in. There was no birth certificate or an identification card, only a handwritten note”

His mother pulled a piece of paper from the envelope and handed it to him. Donghyuck took it carefully and inspected it. The paper wasn’t anything special, just one with lines, ripped from a notebook probably. It only had a few words on it.

_06/06/2000_

_I’m sorry. Please take care of my sun._

Shit. Oh shit okay. Just one sentence, but Donghyuck felt a sting in his heart. He had thought he had been a result of a high school affair gone wrong or something, maybe an unpleasant surprise for an omega guy in the middle of building his career. Something. The piece of paper wasn’t an answer to anything, it was just… sad.

“Is that all?” 

“Yes, that’s all info we got”, his mother sounded apologetic. He showed Donghyuck a few more papers - pictures of him wrapped in a blue blanket in a basket. His measurements from the day he had been taken in, and finally, a certificate of his adoption to his parents.

“So”, Donghyuck started. “I don’t think there is a way I could reach him?”

His mother smiled sadly and he got his answer. 

At first, Donghyuck just left it at that. He had a bad feeling about it - what if he was a result of sexual assault or something equally as shady? There were a million possibilities, and he could live without that knowledge. He didn’t want to start questioning his existence since he had just grown out of most of his insecurities, and he didn’t want any more of them. Also, his omega father obviously didn’t want to be found, so maybe he should respect that. 

“Maybe that was what he thought eighteen years ago”, Jaemin pointed out. “He might have changed his mind”

“But I still don’t have any means to contact him!” Donghyuck sighed dramatically and hit his head on the table. They were sitting in the school cafeteria, he, Jaemin and Jeno. Renjun and Yangyang were nowhere to be found, as usual, they had completely barricaded themselves at home and were spending every waking hour studying for the CSATs. Donghyuck knew that he should do the same, but there he was, killing time with Jaemin and Jeno.

He knew that if he didn’t meet them every day to chat and gossip about nothing important, he would lose his mind.

“Mmh”, Jaemin hummed, munching on his chopsticks. “Maybe _you_ don’t. But you said that you come from an orphanage. They might know something that your parents don’t. Why don’t you ask from there?”

“Woah, that’s a good idea”, Jeno said, and Donghyuck fought the urge to roll his eyes at him. Couldn’t he be any more obvious?

“I’m pretty sure that they don’t. I told you, all they found was a piece of paper with my birthday on it. All they know is my birthday”

“ _Back then_ , all they knew was your birthday”, Jaemin spoke with food in his mouth. Disgusting. Jeno still stared at him like he was the center of the universe. “You know, your father might have missed you after all and contacted the orphanage later? Don’t you think you should check it out just in case?”

“But don’t _you_ think I would have heard of that? Or that my parents would?”

“I don’t know, adoption law is quite binding”, Jaemin shrugged and slurped down the rest of his noodles. 

Donghyuck thought about that for a moment. Maybe he should visit the orphanage - what did he have to lose? He had lived there a few months in his infancy, so maybe he could visit the place just because of that as well, see if the place woke any memories in him.

Not even a week later he was standing before the big building in the outskirts of Seoul. He had Renjun there with him because he knew that the older was a good diplomat when he wanted to be, and probably the smartest of them all (although he would never admit that out loud, Renjun didn’t have a big ego and he didn’t need one)

Renjun kept tapping his foot and fiddling with his fingers. An outsider would think _he_ was the one looking for his parents there. In reality, Renjun was just going through his notes in his head, preparing for the examination all the time, dreading the time he missed reading his books. Renjun was just moments away from burnout, and Donghyuck sincerely hoped that he would make it to the tests before that happened.

He, Jaemin and Jeno took turns dragging him out. Yangyang was completely useless since he claimed to be doing the same thing as Renjun, studying, but everyone knew that in reality, he was just gaming in his room, happy that no one expected him to go out. Yangyang was even lazier than Donghyuck himself. 

“So, are you ready?” Renjun finally relaxed and put a hand on Donghyuck's shoulder. Donghyuck took a deep breath - this could either be a start of a journey or just a dead end, but either way it was important. He nodded.

“Yeah, let’s do this”

... 

“So, here’s where you spent most of your time”, A very nice lady called Hyunhee said, and pointed at a small room to their right. She had hugged both him and Renjun warmly and showed them around, rambling about what had happened during the past twenty years as well as when Donghyuck had come.

“You were so small back then, we had trouble believing the day on the paper was right. It was so late in July when we found you, it was hot and sunny, we actually called you Sunny here before giving you this name”

Oh. So he had gotten his name at an orphanage. His parents had obviously respected that since they had also named his sisters in a similar way. However, there was another detail that Hyunhee had mentioned that caught his interest way more. 

“July?” Donghyuck asked. “That late?”

“Yes. Your birth parent - as we now know it, omega father - apparently kept you for two months before deciding that he had to let you go. It was heartbreaking, although we didn’t really know what had happened. It’s not often that we get babies that young either, we had a nurse by your side all the time.”

Donghyuck gulped as he looked around. There were far fewer children now than there used to be, or so Hyunhee had said. Still, there were two boys building legos in a room with blue wallpapers and dinosaurs painted on the walls. They couldn’t be more than three years old either, but they were reaching the age where people no longer wanted to adopt them. Donghyuck wondered what had happened to their parents - in a way, he could have ended up like any of these children here, with no real family.

“What about my adoptive parents?” He asked when they reached another staircase. Renjun patted him on the back every now and then, to make sure that he was alright and wouldn’t get too emotional. Renjun was the cry baby in their friendship, not Donghyuck. But he was thankful nevertheless.

“Oh, the young couple came here in October, just married and desperate for a child. They fell in love with you the minute they saw you, and we were glad to give you for such loving parents”

That sounded nice, although Donghyuck couldn’t help but compare it to picking a puppy. His parents had never allowed him to have one but he knew how the process went - you went to see a breeder and picked the cutest puppy to bring home. His parents could have chosen someone else. But they had chosen him.

“How long was I here, in total?” He asked Hyunhee. She led them to a living room of some kind, where some children were sitting, doing their homework or just teasing each other. They sat down on an old sofa, him and Renjun, and Hyunhee sat opposite of them.

“Four months,”, she said, and Donghyuck nodded. It matched. “The process was long and difficult, but you got to spend your first Christmas with your parents"

Donghyuck had seen pictures of said holiday. Lot’s of them. They were the first ones in all albums that they had, he wondered why he hadn’t questioned it before. If he had been born in summer, why were there no pictures of him being a newborn in summer?

Whatever, he was there now.

“Do you know anything about my omega father?” He finally dared to ask. 

“Nothing solid, I’m afraid”, Hyunhee looked apologetic and Donghyuck swallowed his disappointment. Of course not, otherwise she would have told him right away. 

“However, we do have a phone number”

Donghyuck raised his eyebrows and Renjun squeezed his thigh (a gesture that Donghyuck had taught him, kinda. Renjun had insisted it was too sexual but was now using it to comfort Donghyuck like he liked it). A phone number? That sounded too good to be true!

Hyunhee had been carrying a file the whole time they had been there. She opened it on the sofa table and handed Donghyuck a paper. It had a date from 2009, as well as a number on it. 

“I know that this is old, but it’s all we’ve got”, Hyunhee said. “We got a call, almost ten years ago, from this number, asking about you. It wasn’t me who received it, but what I know is, that a man was asking for his sun, and how he was doing. So, you. We told him that he should come here and register himself as your biological father, but he refused. We told him that you were living with a nice middle-class family here in Seoul and that you were healthy. He seemed satisfied with that, and hung up”. 

Donghyuck eyed the number, but it was just a normal phone number with nothing interesting in it. It was old, so it could have changed owners already and then Donghyuck would be lost again. But it was already more than he had had before, so he thanked Hyunhee sincerely.

“So, what are you waiting for? Call it”, Renjun said when they had barely stepped out of the building. 

“What, now? I don’t even know what to say!”

“It’s not that complicated. Just ask the person if he had a son that he gave away. That’s it. Simple, effective, you’ll see if you’re on the right track or not immediately”

“I am not going to call some random person and ask them ‘h _ey, you don’t happen to have given birth to a son eighteen years ago?’_ I have to have a better strategy, that’s just rude, they’d hang up on me!”

…

“So… You don’t happen to have given birth to a son eighteen years ago?”

_“What the hell? No? Who is this?”_

Donghyuck hit his forehead against the kitchen table. He had parted from Renjun (who had hurried home to study, like the mad man that he was) and gone home. Thankfully no one else was there yet, so he had sat at the kitchen table and decided to just call. Otherwise, he would just get so anxious he would procrastinate both the call _and_ the studying that he really really really needed to do. The CSATs were only a week away now.

“Um, this is Donghyuck. Lee Donghyuck. I’m looking for my omega father who apparently made a call from this number to an orphanage around ten years ago”

The line stayed quiet for a while and Donghyuck honestly just expected the man to hang up. It had been a dead-end, just like he had feared. Maybe he could try to track down the past owners of this telephone number… But why would teleoperators keep that information? And it didn’t sound like the kind of information that could be handed out to random people who just asked nicely.

 _“Wait, did you say omega father?”_ The man on the phone finally asked.

“Yeah, I did. My omega father abandoned me illegally on the doorstep of the Eastern Seoul’s orphanage eighteen years ago”

 _“Oh for fuck’s sake”_ , the man cursed, but Donghyuck had a feeling he wasn’t cursing him. _“When were you born, Donghyuck? Do you know?”_

“Yeah, apparently 6th of June 2000. I was left in the orphanage in late July”

 _“Right”_ , the man sighed. _“I think I know who your asshole father is. Or… Yeah, I’m sure, I know. Would you mind meeting me in person though?”_

Donghyuck picked himself up from the table where he had been lying ever since being cursed at for the first time. This man knew his father? His _asshole_ father? And he was willing to help?!

“Ah, yes, of course!” He tried not to sound too excited, but he couldn’t help himself. “Just tell me when you’re free and where you want to meet, I’m fine with anything!”

 _“Sure, I’ll text you later when I’m sure of my schedule”_ , the man answered. _“Oh, and it’s nice to meet you. My name is Do Kyungsoo”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> So, I'm back early! I'm so thankful for the support I got for the first chapter, and I hope I can live up to your expectations! <3<3 So, let's get to it!

**_Nana_ _19:21  
_ ** _Yo, are you sure it’s safe? He could be, like, a crazy ax murderer who feasts on the bodies of adopted children_

 _**Jen 19:21**  
_ _Yeah, or worse, really mean_

 _**Hyuckie 19:23**  
_ _When was the last time you slept @Nana_

 _**Jen 19:24**  
_ _Two days ago, he’s studying vectors now_

 _**Nana 19:24**  
_ _’Im just concerned!_

 _**Sungiebaby 19:25**  
_ _You’re all going crazy, I’m concerned_

 _**Nana 19:25**  
_ _JUST WAIT, YOU’RE GOING TO GO THROUGH THIS IN TWO YEARS_

 _**Hyuckie 19:26**  
_ _Can’t you take this seriously? It’s just a man who knew my father, he could help me_

 _**Yangx2 19:28**  
_ _He called him an asshole_

 _**Nana 19:29**  
_ _Yeah, what if they were enemies and now he will use this opportunity to take revenge on you_

 _**Jen 19:29**  
_ _That’s a valid point_

 _**Hyuckie 19:30**  
_ _No, it’s not_

 _**Sungiebaby 19:30**  
_ _No it’s not_

 _**Renjun 19:30**  
_ _Are you sure you don’t want any of us to come with you? It might be a scam_

 _**Hyuckie 19:31**  
_ _Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll keep my phone close, you know the address  
_ _Honestly, you shouldn’t always expect the worst possible outcome  
What’s the worst that could happen? _

_**Nana 19:31**  
_ _UHHHHH_

_**Hyuckie 19:31**  
Jaemin shut UP _

_**Yangx2 19:36**  
_ _Hey, what did you get from last year’s math exam, question four?_

 _**Jen 19:37**  
_ _Haven’t done it yet_

 _**Renjun 19:37**  
_ _15.98_

 _**Nana 19:38**  
_ _Oh shit I got -109_

 _**Yangx2 19:39**  
_ _I got five square meters, what the fuck did I do wrong_

 _**Hyuckie 19:39**  
_ _I thought we were talking about me here_

 _**Chenle_the_dolphin 19:40**  
_ _Make your own group for this shit, I don’t WANT to see math outside of school_

Kyungsoo had invited Donghyuck to his place, a day after the CSATs. So, he tried not to think about him too much but he couldn’t not when the numbers were flying over his head as he tried to study. He had always done fine without knowing who his biological parents were, why was it suddenly so important?

Maybe it was because Donghyuck hadn’t found them yet, and it proved itself to be a challenge. Because whatever Donghyuck wanted from life, he got. With no exceptions. He was the oldest of three siblings and the only one who wasn’t blood-related, but still, he had been a spoiled child. 

The day of the CSAT’s was nerve-wracking. His parents cooked a special breakfast and gave him tips, his sisters came to cheer for him on to the school grounds, and Renjun looked as white as paper when Donghyuck saw him in the hallway. He finished one test, then another, then another, he drank water and stared at his answers till the very end before returning his answer sheets with shaking hands.

When it was finally over, he felt weird as hell walking out. He met up with Jaemin and Jeno who shared his feelings, but also with Renjun who looked like he would faint anytime. Yangyang was there as well, they all went to eat chicken at a nearby restaurant they always liked to eat at, but the youngest left quickly to meet his ~~boyfriend~~ _exchange student friend_ , Guanheng.

When he got home, Donghyuck went straight to bed. His head was empty, and he only woke up the next morning to realize that he was about to be late for his meeting with Kyungsoo.

A quick shower, he barely dried his hair before running out, took the metro, searched around the block three times until he finally found the right apartment building, and ran up the stairs two at a time.

_**Sungiebaby 10:18**  
_ _Good luck with the murderer Hyuckie hyung!_

That was exactly what he wanted to see when he was standing in front of the door that said DO on it. Okay, he took deep breaths. This was just some random angry man who knew his father, what was the worst thing that could actually happen? Donghyuck was charming, he was naturally good with people, he would handle this alright. He pushed the doorbell.

The door opened after just a few seconds and Donghyuck gulped, trying to calm down his nervousness. The man at the door was short but he looked intimidating. His head was nearly shaved and he was wearing round glasses, his face set on a firm frown. Donghyuck bowed down, a bit more than he usually would, and introduced himself very formally.

“Good morning! My name is Lee Donghyuck, I think we spoke through the phone?”

The guy eyed him up and down and then, a warm smile spread on his face. 

“Yes, nice to meet you Donghyuck. I’m Do Kyungsoo, come in, I’m sure we have a lot to talk about!”

They shook hands, and Kyungsoo hurried deeper into the apartment as Donghyuck stopped to leave his shoes in the hallway. The apartment was small but neat, really clean and organized - it wasn’t often that Donghyuck was able to step into such places since both his family and all of his friends were messy as hell. He was as well. He set his shoes very carefully next to each other and followed Kyungsoo to the kitchen.

It smelled like grilled meat in there, and Donghyuck felt hungry instantly. Under the smell of food lingered the smell of a beta, and Donghyuck wasn’t sure if it was Kyungsoo or if he had a living companion but he would probably get answers soon. The kitchen looked like it was straight from an Ikea booklet, Donghyuck didn’t dare touch anything in fear of making it dirty.

“Sit down”, Kyungsoo said and gestured towards the table. “I’m making samgyeopsal - I hope you’re hungry?”

Damn yes, he was hungry. Donghyuck hadn’t had the time to eat anything in the morning, the last thing he had eaten was the chicken the day before. It felt a bit weird to sit down with a man he knew nothing about, to eat, but Donghyuck was okay with that. He was here for answers, and food was a nice plus. 

“Yeah, I am”

“Good”, Kyungsoo smiled. “This used to be your father’s favorite dish”

There it was. The first mention of his father. And the first actual piece of information that he got from the man. Donghyuck felt weird. This man, who was currently putting side dishes on the table, could be a key to his past. Donghyuck felt both really nervous and excited at the same time.

“How do you know my father?” Donghyuck asked. Kyungsoo placed the final item, the meat, on the table and sat down opposite of Donghyuck. He looked at Donghyuck with a yearning look on his face - was he seeing his father on his face? Where? Did he have his father’s features? Which ones? He wanted to know everything!

“We were classmates”, Kyungsoo said. “From primary school till high school. I’m afraid you don’t know much about him?”

“No, I don’t”, Donghyuck shook his head. “I don’t know anything at all”

“Well, for starters, his name is Baekhyun”, Kyungsoo said. “Byun Baekhyun”

Byun. Baekhyun, Byun Baekhyun. Donghyuck tested the syllables in his mouth. He finally had a name! He was a Byun! 

“And I have to be a hundred percent honest with you here - I haven’t been in touch with him for years. I don’t know exactly where he is or what he is up to. Ten years ago, Baekhyun lived with me for a short while when he was trying to get his life together, and I think he made the call then”

Oh, that didn’t sound too good. Donghyuck felt his mood go down, but only a bit. He had known that finding his father wouldn’t be easy, and believing in the first clue would be foolish. He had prepared for this. He was still hopeful. 

“But”, Kyungsoo continued after obviously having seen his reaction. “I _did_ know your father for almost twenty years, and I can help you with searching. Least of all I can tell you something about him”

“Okay”, Donghyuck cheered up at that. The man had already added to his knowledge by 100% by giving him a name, and he probably knew his father well if he had grown up with him.

Kyungsoo smiled a little and nodded towards the food. “Help yourself. It’s always nicer to have serious discussions over food”

True. Donghyuck thanked him and reached out for the meat and side dishes. He could hear the group chat gasping at his carelessness - _you, a young omega, going to a random guy’s apartment alone and eating there?? Are you insane??_ \- but Kyungsoo seemed nice and Donghyuck was starving. The meat was soft in his chopsticks, he dipped it in the sauce that Kyungsoo had given him and tasted it right away.

“Oh my god, this is so good”, he gasped, already getting more. Maybe it was the hunger, but the meat was _that good._

“Thanks, I try. I thought that the least I could do for my stupid friend is to feed his son”

“Can you tell me something about him?” Donghyuck asked between the mouthfuls of food. “Like, anything. His personality, his family, his interests, anything!”

Kyungsoo looked out of the window deep in thought, and then, he started talking.

“Your father… How do I put this? He liked to live life by the beating of his own drum. He was loud as hell, the funniest guy I’ve ever known. He was a social butterfly, a little crazy at times, as in, he wasn’t all that good at taking care of himself. He was always there when something happened, he knew everyone. He was kind, but he didn’t really care about what other people thought about him”

Donghyuck listened attentively. He realized he was constantly looking for links between him and his father - sense of humor, sociality, his father seemed to be a lot like him. He should ask his friends how they would describe him though - would they call him an idiot as well? Renjun would definitely call him an asshole. 

“Do you want to see pictures?”

“Yes!”

Kyungsoo had lots of old, physical pictures in a small box. He handed one to Donghyuck and he needed to close his eyes before looking at it. This would be it. This would be the first time he saw his father, would know whether he resembled him at all. He took a deep breath and looked.

The picture he was holding was of good quality. The man in the picture looked around his age, he was smiling a little. He was wearing a crazy amount of eyeliner and eyeshadow, and his hair had obviously been bleached.

Damn, he looked… He looked like a troublemaker.

“That picture was taken right after our high school graduation. Baekhyun had colored his hair before but he had always been forced to dye it back to black. He used the wildest of colors, and keep in mind that this was the early 2000s - the hair dyes were brutal.”

Kyungsoo showed him a lot more pictures. Photos of him and Baekhyun together, and many other people, young and happy, wearing school uniforms or regular clothes, doing all kinds of things.

He had been very close to Baekhyun since he had so many memories to share. Happy childhood summers, struggles with school, field trips and lots of pranks that Baekhyun had pulled. He even had pictures of them both in their twenties, late twenties, and they both still looked happy in them. Kyungsoo himself seemed like a very quiet guy by nature, whereas this picture that he painted of Baekhyun was bright, loud and bubbly. 

An interesting dynamic.

“Um, do you know why he… why he got me?” That was a subject that Kyungsoo hadn’t crossed yet. Donghyuck was curious but also scared to hear how it had happened. But he had to know.

“Mmh, this is when it gets tricky”, Kyungsoo said and his brows furrowed. “It was… Well, for a short while in high school it seemed like we were growing apart, since I was aiming for SKY universities, like most, but Baekhyun didn’t care that much. We were still friends but when I spent all my time awake studying, Baekhyun… well, he had other things in mind. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t an underachiever, but I guess he didn’t want to throw his young years away like I did”

This guy, Kyungsoo, was just like Renjun. Donghyuck could see the similarities, and he could see the dynamic better. Renjun was keeping everyone else stable, he stuck to reality and kept reminding them about assignments and stuff. Donghyuck couldn’t imagine his school life without him, he would be so lost. Maybe it had been similar to Kyungsoo and Baekhyun?

“After the summer of 1999, I barely saw him. I heard through grapevine that he met someone and knowing Baekhyun, he probably went all in with that. I studied and only saw him at school, staring out the window, his mind elsewhere. He stopped doing pranks and running around so I thought he was growing up. Love has the power to change a person

It was only in… the spring of 2000 I think when I started to notice him gaining weight. It became pretty obvious. I confronted him about it and he told me that he was pregnant. He refused to tell me who the alpha or beta responsible was but I knew how to put one and one together. He was thrown out by his parents a bit later in spring and he came to me, he lived with me for a few months before moving out for summer and I didn’t see him again until fall”

Donghyuck thought about it for a second. Of course, Kyungsoo didn’t know the details but his omega father would have told him if there had been something bad there, right? Maybe? Maybe he was just a result of a high school romance gone wrong after all. Maybe.

“To be honest”, Kyungsoo continued, and Donghyuck was immediately focused again. “At first, I wasn’t sure if it was you. When Baekhyun… got you, he hid everything really well. I don’t know exactly what happened then since I didn’t hear from him the whole summer, but suddenly the baby was gone and he came back and refused to talk about it ever again. I thought he had lost you, I would have never imagined he would be stupid enough to leave you in an orphanage. I still can’t quite believe it. However”

Kyungsoo looked at Donghyuck with such an intense stare that he almost wanted to turn away. But he didn't.

“Now I’m sure. You have his eyes, his laugh, and something about your mannerisms is just so damn familiar that it has to be you. I’m glad that you’re alive and well, even though the start of your life wasn’t easy”

“I’m glad too”, Donghyuck smiled.

Kyungsoo got up to clean the table. Donghyuck still held onto the first picture that Kyungsoo had shown him of his father. Would the man let him keep it, for now? If he asked nicely?

“Okay, so, about contacting him”, Donghyuck’s ears perked up again. He had all but forgotten that he had come here to find more information on how to find the guy, not only to listen to stories about him. “It might be difficult”

“I figured”, Donghyuck sighed and looked down at the picture in his hands. Baekhyun looked like he was ahead of his time there - expecting him to have social media wasn’t a stretch, right? But apparently, he had been wrong.

“I called his old number but it doesn’t work anymore. He is also not in contact with his family anymore, I checked that for you”

Donghyuck was thankful although it sounded depressing. The information he had gotten from Kyungsoo would keep him in high spirits for a few days but he wanted to find his father eventually. But if it was that difficult...

“Do you have any idea of where he could be?” Donghyuck asked as Kyungsoo sat back down.

“Well”, he started. “Last time I heard of him he was in New York”

…

After a few weeks of preparations, Donghyuck found himself on a plane. Kyungsoo had found him a few addresses that he could try out and Donghyuck had decided that okay, he would fly to New York to do it. He had been saving for a trip for a while already, so why not go to New York? He had always wanted to visit America, and since New Year's Eve was just a few days away, it would be so cool to see it there. 

Donghyuck was biting his nails nervously. 

“Hey don’t worry. This is going to be epic”

Jaemin was bubbling with excitement next to him. The reason why Donghyuck had picked him as his companion for this trip was A) because Jaemin had enough time and money to join Donghyuck on this ridiculous quest and B) okay that was pretty much it. Jaemin insisted that he knew English now, after having spent last summer on a language trip in Australia, so Donghyuck had convinced him that it was the reason for asking him. In reality, Donghyuck didn’t think anyone else could afford it, and he didn’t want to go all alone.

If Jaemin proved himself useful, that would only be a big plus.

“We have to go see the Statue of Liberty and Times Square and nightclubs now that we’re there!”

“This is not just a holiday trip, we’re looking for my dad”, Donghyuck reminded him. “And besides, we’re underage in America”

“Oh right, dammit”, Jaemin cursed but didn’t sound that disappointed. “But we’re going to NEW YORK CITY, of _course_ we’re going sightseeing!”

“Yeah, of course”, Donghyuck sighed. For some reason, he wasn’t quite as pumped up as Jaemin, but the younger one's excitement would transfer to him eventually. It always did, Jaemin and Donghyuck fed off of each other’s energy. 

Jaemin was happily writing a list on his phone, and texting the group chat before he would have to turn it off. This whole idea was crazy but Jaemin was crazy enough to jump on that. He had colored his hair pink just a few days after the CSATs, just to do something crazy with it now that he finally could. Donghyuck had to admit that the color looked amazing on him.

Maybe it would be alright. He was going on a trip across the ocean for the first time in his life. Even if he didn’t find his father, he could have fun with Jaemin.

But he couldn’t help but be nervous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is only kicking off, the adventures are beginning now... Writing this story is so much funnier than writing my thesis, that is starting to become a problem now xd


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you all hear Puzzle Piece?! It’s so sweet, maybe I’ve just been feeling down lately or something but it makes me so emotional, I cried when I heard it for the first time. It’s like Dear Dream but now we know no one is leaving… ahhh this album is going to be so good!

_“Yo we looking… this boy… dad… this boy dad we want”_

“Are you sure you know how to do this?” Donghyuck whispered as the receptionist looked more and more confused by the minute. Jaemin just hit him with his elbow painfully.

“Shut up I’m working on it - _daddy lost? You help?_ ”

“Umm... “

“Show her the name”, Donghyuck whispered. Jaemin nodded and slipped a piece of paper under her nose. She looked at it and then back up, the same confusion on her face.

“Idiot, that’s in hangul”

“Ah, right, how do we write it with a Latin alphabet? B Y E O N…”

“It’s B Y U N, wait, lemme write it”

“She doesn’t look like she understands any more now”

“How do we say personal information?”

“Wait, I’ll google it”

_“Personal information. They’re looking for this guy’s personal information”_

Another voice joined the conversation. Someone, who was speaking English. Donghyuck and Jaemin both turned around to look at a man who had walked there next to them and was now talking to the receptionist in English.

He looked young, and most of all, Asian. Donghyuck couldn’t place him since his face was very unusual and didn’t fit the mold of a stereotypical East Asian, but it was clear. He couldn’t observe for long though since the guy turned to look at them soon.

“Isn’t that what you were looking for? Gaein jeongbo, _personal information?”_

The man smiled a little, and for some odd reason, it annoyed Donghyuck. He had just been listening to their conversation and decided to step in - who did he think he was? No one had asked.

“Yes, thank god”, Jaemin didn’t share his feelings. “Can you please ask her what she knows about this man, anything really - phone number, email, anything! This is very important, tell her that it’s his long lost son looking for him!”

“Alright”, the man smiled and turned back to the receptionist to relay the message in English. Donghyuck decided to use that moment to punch Jaemin in the arm. The younger whined but he had deserved it - giving out vital information to a random stranger who just so happened to share their language? Ridiculous. Okay, they might not have any info yet but the fact that they were looking for said information was enough information! This guy could be anyone, they were in America now!

“Okay”, the man turned back to them. “She says that she is not allowed to give out any information about the residents, not current nor past ones. However, she would like to take your contact info, and they will contact you if something comes up”

“So it’s a dead-end”, Donghyuck whined and grabbed the papers from the desk. It was the third place they looked, but the first one had been demolished and the second one just closed, under a different name. They got furthest with this one, but it still didn’t lead them anywhere. They were out of addresses, the best leads that they had had. This particular place was a big skyscraper with a receptionist down in the lobby and all. Damn, it looked like a place for rich people, and honestly, for what Donghyuck knew about Baekhyun’s life… he didn’t seem like one, not really. But he had hoped for something, still.

“They are sorry and wish you luck on your search”, the guy translated. Donghyuck forced a smile and nodded at the receptionist, and turned to leave.

“Come on, Jaemin”

“Thank you so much for your help!” He immediately heard from Jaemin’s tone that he was flirting. Of course. The man had stood close enough that Donghyuck could smell him - an alpha. A young, American alpha, aka a _nightmare_. Donghyuck had heard from his friends that Americans tended to be uppish and egocentric, he didn’t care that this guy looked Asian and spoke Korean, he wanted nothing to do with people like that.

“It’s really no problem. Have you been here for long?” Donghyuck heard the smile in the guy’s voice, and he turned around to see Jaemin brushing his arm. Ah sure, Jaemin was a natural flirt, but he was unstoppable when he actually decided to try.

“No, just a few days actually”

“And we are in a hurry, so”, Donghyuck took Jaemin’s arm and pulled, but the younger didn’t move. 

“What’s your name, handsome?”

“Um”, the soft pink that rose on the guy’s face looked funny. “I’m Mark. Mark Lee”

“Oh, I’m Jaemin Na and this is Donghyuck Lee", switching the places of the first and last name seemed to be the only Western thing Jaemin knew how to do. "It’s so nice to meet other Koreans here!”

“Yeah, well, there are like a million Koreans in America”, Donghyuck said blandly.

Jaemin turned to Donghyuck and pulled a face but he didn’t care. He didn’t want Jaemin to find an affair right away since he didn’t want to search through New York alone. The hardest part was still in front of them, he needed support.

“Well, I was born and raised here so I wouldn’t really call myself a Korean”, Mark continued as they made their way outside. 

“Oh really? But your Korean is perfect, you sound like a native!”

“Um, thank you. My parents are Korean”

“Oh, right, silly me”

Donghyuck didn’t know who annoyed him more, Jaemin or Mark. Or the mission. He stuffed the papers unceremoniously to his bag and dug out his phone from his back pocket. It wasn’t more than five o’clock, but it was already their third day there. The first day they had spent finding the place they were supposed to stay at - Yangyang had a friend who had a small apartment on the outskirts of New York City, and the said friend was currently on tour with a dance group so it was empty. Yangyang was amazing, he knew people from all over the world - and sleeping away their jetlag, and that had pretty much spread over to the next day as well. They had built up a plan as well and were now going through it.

It was December 29th. Donghyuck had hoped to get at least some process done before the changing of the year. He had really wanted to celebrate it since he and Jaemin were going to turn twenty and be of age in Korea then. But if they hadn’t gotten any further in their search by then, he didn’t know if he could.

Donghyuck shook his head. They had time. Neither of them had bought their return tickets yet (they had been heavily interrogated because of it at the airport but thank god their explanations had been understood) and Donghyuck would have to be back in February the latest - he would find his father somehow. They still had clues.

“So, Mark Lee-ssi, what do you do for a living?” Jaemin was still talking to Mark politely as they stepped out of the doors and to the busy street. There was very little snow in New York and most of it had turned black already from the exhaust fumes. Donghyuck looked left and right, trying to come up with a plan when Jaemin was occupied.

“Um, I’m actually a University student here. I study musical theory”

“Oh, that sounds cool! What kind of music do you wanna make?”

“I like to write hip hop and urban, kind of a mix of different genres”

“Jaemin”, Donghyuck said strictly. “We should really get going now”

It was Mark who answered him though “Oh right, you have to find... Baekhyun, was it?”

“Yes”, Donghyuck said and finally pulled Jaemin away from Mark. “And we are in a hurry”

Mark probably didn't eat that excuse since Jaemin wasn't rushing at all, but he was smart enough to understand that he wasn't wanted (by Donghyuck). He seemed to think over his words for a while, the time it took for Donghyuck to decided which way to go, and then he spoke carefully. "Um, I don’t want to sound rude but do you have a guide? It can be hard to find people here, especially if you don’t speak English”

“No, we don’t”, Jaemin answered. “We can’t afford one”

“We don’t NEED one”, Donghyuck had been against it from the start. He didn't trust any guides, they weren't exactly shooting 'Find My Family' here so he wouldn't find a good one anyway. He had Yangyang that he could send screenshots to (who would translate them for him) and he had google translate, google maps, and Jaemin to keep him company. 

“Um, okay. I just thought… would you like some help? I can help with translating stuff for you? I’m on my Christmas break now so it would be no bother”

“Oh god, yes!”

“No, thank you”, Donghyuck didn't want to admit to a random alpha just how screwed they were.

Mark looked confused for a good reason. 

“Okay, well, I could still give you my number if you change your mind? It sucks to get lost in here”

Was he thinking they were children or something? Oh god, so annoying. Jaemin escaped Donghyuck’s death grip and went to exchange numbers with the alpha. Donghyuck bit his lip and counted slowly to ten to not say something stupid. 

Donghyuck didn't dislike _all_ alphas Guanheng was nice, and so were some of his classmates, but he hated the way they often behaved. Like omegas were fragile just because they could bear children. Donghyuck didn’t understand the logic behind it - having to carry a child for nine months and then push it out of your body only made you so goddamn strong, alphas with their stupid territorial instincts and vain ruts were nothing in comparison. Yet that was just how society worked.

Okay, maybe he did have a prejudice against alphas. But just because they had a prejudice against him!

Jaemin got the number and Donghyuck deemed it enough and started pulling him. 

“See you later handsome!” Jaemin yelled when Donghyuck dragged him behind a corner.

...

“Don’t hit on the first person you see”

“But he spoke Korean”, Jaemin whined. “English is causing me a headache!”

“I thought you came here to sightsee?” Donghyuck said with an amused voice, although he wasn’t that surprised. “And I thought your English is phenomenal now, after the summer course?”

Jaemin had been so proud after it. He had gone to Australia and met so many people from different countries, his Instagram had blown up. Selfies, pictures of him and his new friends surfing and eating good food and watching fireworks and chasing kangaroos and whatever people did in Australia. Donghyuck was just a little envious, but Jaemin had always been the richest of them all - he always did things Donghyuck and his other friends could only dream of. 

Jaemin straightened immediately. “Uh, my English is better of course! I just don’t have the vocabulary for… this.”

“You don’t have the vocabulary for anything!” Donghyuck chuckled. “I bet you just partied and chased the hot foreigners on that stupid course”

Donghyuck had meant it as a joke but the redness spreading on Jaemin’s cheeks proved that he had been right.

_**Hyuckie 16:19**  
_ _Guess who only fucked hot foreigner alphas on his “language trip” that his parents paid for him?_

 _**Nana 16:21**  
_ _THAT IS NOT TRUE DON’T LISTEN TO HIM_

 _**Renjun 19:50**  
_ _Disappointed but not surprised_

 _**Hyuckie 19:58**  
_ _And he calls that ‘hard studying'_

 _**Yangx2 20:30**  
_ _I guess he did study something_ **_hard  
_ ** _Hey Jaemin, how do they say ‘I’m gonna cum’ in Spanish?  
_ _Or, whatever your type is?_

_**Nana** has removed **Yangx2** from the chat _

_**Jen 20:32**  
_ _Jaemin likes foreigners?_

_**SungieBaby** added **Yangx2** _

_**SungieBaby 20:33**  
_ _Jaem fucks anything that moves, don’t overthink it hyung_

 _**Nana 20:33**  
_ _WHO TAUGHT YOU TO SPEAK LIKE THAT?  
_ _And it’s JAEMIN HYUNG to you_

 _**Yangx2 20:33**  
_ _Where is the lie tho_

_**Nana** has removed **Yangx2** and **SungieBaby** from the chat _

...

Luckily for Donghyuck, Jaemin didn’t hold a grudge. Not for him.

“So, when it’s New Year’s Eve, there’s gonna be so many people out that sneaking into a bar is gonna be so much easier. I think we should try.”

Jaemin kept chewing on his fork. They had gone out to eat their breakfast on Sunday, the day before New Year’s Eve. They ate the most delicious cream cheese bagels in the whole world and Donghyuck was already dreading the moment when he would eat the last piece.

He still had quite a lot left though.

“That’s crazy”, Donghyuck answered. “But let’s try. We have to be at Times Square when the countdown begins though”

“Absolutely”, Jaemin nodded. “It’s just a shame that only we could come. Who am I gonna have as my New Year’s kiss now?”

“Mark might have some friends”, Donghyuck shrugged. Jaemin had texted with the alpha later and had found out that he was going to spend his New Year’s Eve in a small club in Northern Manhattan. And he had invited them there.

Jaemin had whined for the whole night until Donghyuck had said yes, they could go there as well. He was rarely the one Jaemin's whining (and overboard aegyo) was targeted at so he didn’t know how he should handle it. He wanted to party as well, skipping something just because of a principle was stupid and too Renjun anyway - he was out in the world with Jaemin, no one would hold him down now.

But, they had a real mission that they had to take care of first. And that was finding Donghyuck’s omega father. The addresses had led them nowhere so the next step would be to try out other clues that Kyungsoo had given him. He had been very regretful that he wasn’t able to give anything solid but Donghyuck didn’t blame him. People moved away and lost touch. It happened all the time.

But Kyungsoo texted him from time to time, asking how his search was going. Last time yesterday, Donghyuck had told him honestly that not well. Kyungsoo had tried contacting their past friends to find out more, but it seemed that Baekhyun had lost contact with all of them. 

Baekhyun might not even be in New York anymore. That was a possibility, although Kyungsoo believed otherwise. _Baekhyun might be crazy but he doesn’t like moving that much. I remember Baekhyun always dreaming of moving to New York and when I last heard of him, he was happy there._

Kyungsoo had said that Baekhyun had been good at Hapkido when he had been younger and would have wanted to take that back up. Donghyuck and Jaemin had found some hapkido places in New York that were targeted at older people so they had left their contact information there just in case. 

Kyungsoo had also mentioned some people that Baekhyun had worked with during his very first years in New York. Some names on the paper that didn’t say anything to Donghyuck - Who used names like Suzy, Chen, or Xiumin? The last two sounded Chinese but Donghyuck had a hunch that they might be nicknames. But what could he do with them?

They had, however, found a Youtube channel under the name Chen. It was just a guy singing cover songs and most of the videos were several years old, but he looked Asian and his location had been set to New York so it might be the Chen they were looking for. 

Donghyuck knew that it was a stretch but he had to try. He sent a link to Kyungsoo but the man hadn’t seen the message yet. The time difference was big and the man went to work like normal people. 

“Mmh, probably”, Jaemin looked down at his phone. He had touched his roots last week, but the dark brown was almost visible again, under the fluffy pink. He looked at his phone deep in thought - he had done that quite often after they had arrived in New York, like he was constantly waiting for someone to contact him.

Jaemin's phone was usually hot with messages, people trying to get his attention. However, most of the time Jaemin didn't care.

Jaemin was… He was in his own league. He was the only other male omega that Donghyuck knew, if Jaemin’s big brother didn’t count. Jaemin was very… well, he knew how to use his omega nature to his advantage. He was very open and flirty, and very liberal when it came to sexuality. Donghyuck was quite open-minded as well, not quite as much as Jaemin but he didn’t mind making out with people he had just met and having fun with his friends at parties. He and Jaemin had a history as well. A very colorful one. 

The thing with Jaemin was that Donghyuck hadn’t known him all his life. He had grown up with Jeno since he had been a baby and Renjun had come along in kindergarten. Jaemin, however, had only joined the gang in middle school, when he had already been a gorgeous early bloomer omega. Donghyuck didn’t have romantic feelings towards Jaemin but damn he a was a great kisser, and they were both omegas so they had helped each other out during heats before. Their friendship was very unusual, but Donghyuck liked the freedom of it, the convenience.

Jaemin was amazing, he didn’t take things to heart and that was why Donghyuck didn’t need to worry when doing anything with him. Jeno sometimes looked at him cross-eyed though, because the poor beta had gone and developed a huge crush on Jaemin. Donghyuck had assured him that he and Jaemin had nothing between them other than occasional heat/drunk sessions because that was the truth. But he felt bad for Jeno - Jaemin didn’t want to get attached to anyone and just wanted to live free for now, but Jeno had a very tender heart. Donghyuck knew that Jaemin knew that as well, maybe that was why he hadn’t touched Jeno even though the beta was obviously interested (and Jaemin probably was as well).

It was better this way. Jaemin didn’t want a relationship, Jeno would grow out of his crush at some point, Donghyuck was sure of it.

Donghyuck ate the rest of his breakfast in peace while Jaemin texted, and at around 12:30 they got out on the streets. It was colder today, Donghyuck hugged his jacket closer to himself and Jaemin’s hair disappeared under his big woolly hat. He looked cute in it.

“So, where to, boss?”

“To Koreatown”, Donghyuck said with an overly exaggerated tour guide voice. “Let’s hope this man is homesick and likes to chat with the aunties!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this chapter was short again, but this is all I wanted to tell for now - I prefer shorter chapters more often than writing really long chapters. The main focus was on Donghyuck’s relationship with Jaemin and also MARK IS HERE. 
> 
> Let’s make one thing clear if it wasn’t already: I’m not American. I’ve never been to New York, or anywhere in America, ever. So, I’ve made up quite a few of the places that they visit. I still try to stay as accurate as possible with everything else so if you see some faults please tell me so I can stay authentic. Thank you <3 (also, I have nothing against Americans, I'm just playing with stereotypes here - as we know, most of the stereotypes that we have, are proven wrong at some point)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jaemin’s shenanigans in English Puberty are one of the reasons why I wanted him to accompany Donghyuck on this trip. If you haven’t yet, go watch ‘jaemin vs the english language’ on youtube, it’s high-quality entertainment. Jaemin is so patient, even though his English is not that good he is really making an effort and learning and that’s really cool!
> 
> Also, a warning for this chapter: alcohol use. Jaemin and Donghyuck are both 18 here so for me it’s not really underage drinking but in Korea and America it technically would be (that’s why it’s tagged underage drinking)

They didn’t find anything solid from Koreatown. Of course. New York was a big city. Maybe a bit smaller than Seoul, but still huge. Donghyuck hadn’t thrown all hope away yet though - Kyungsoo had answered him and told him that yes, he was quite sure that this was the Chen he had been talking about, so Donghyuck sent the man a message and hoped for the best. They had also left their contact information to a few samgyeopsal restaurants, and the people there were very nice and understanding.

So, on New Year’s Eve, Donghyuck and Jaemin took a day off from searching and instead slept for even longer, ate well, and prepared for their night. Jaemin was excited and that rubbed off on Donghyuck as well, he let the younger omega do his hair and apply some eyeliner and eyeshadow to his eyes. Jaemin was good with makeup, and Donghyuck knew he would look gorgeous with whatever he decided to use on him. Maybe it was in his genes, crazy colors just complimented his darker skin tone.

Jaemin used a much more subdued palette on himself. He worked on his lips and hair, the light pink tones that looked good against his pale skin. They put on some tight pants (Jaemin went with leather but Donghyuck wasn’t quite as crazy. Ripped jeans worked just fine) and Jaemin went for a t-shirt that had a neckline so big that it easily revealed his collarbones. Donghyuck pulled on a leather jacket and they were good to go.

After taking a ton of photos of course.

_**Hyuckie 17:30**  
_ _[sent a picture]  
_ _A little late to the party but 2019 here we come!_

 _**Yangx2 17:31**  
_ _Omg you two actually look good_

 _**Hyuckie 17:35**  
_ _Woah how are you awake, it’s like 6am in Korea_

 _**Yangx2 17:36**  
_ _Never went to sleep. Gaming with Guanheng  
_ _[sent a picture]_

 _**Nana 17:37**  
_ _Guanheng is so handsome, even in your dirty bedroom_

 _**Yangx2 17:37**  
_ _Hands off_

 _**Nana 17:38**  
_ _Ah, what a way to celebrate the New Year, making love to someone you love_

 _**Yangx2 17:38**  
_ _I told you we were gaming_

 _**Hyuckie 17:38**  
_ _Yeah riiiiiiiiiiight_

 _**Nana 17:38**  
_ _If that’s not after-sex hair then I don’t know what is_

 _**Yangx2 17:38**  
_ _Shut up you sad singles go find some Americans to hook up with_

 _**Hyuckie 17:39**  
_ _Wait, are you telling me you’re not a sad single anymore?_

 _**Nana 17:39**  
_ _OMG I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

They made their way to Times Square first but soon realized that their jackets were not made for the coldness of the night. They listened to a few performances from afar but then decided to head for the place where Mark had said he would be - a club in Northern Manhattan.

The porter at the door of the club they were supposed to go to was young, tall, and handsome, and his features were East Asian as well. Donghyuck and Jaemin walked up to him carefully, knowing fully well that they were underage but this was the place Mark had told them to come to. Male omegas (as well as the cute girl omegas) were popular in clubs and many porters let them in easier just because of that. They pulled in more people.

 _“Good evening you two, can you show me your ID_ s?”, the man said professionally but with a friendly tone, and Donghyuck knew enough English to know what it meant. He pulled out his black passport and handed it to him at the same time with Jaemin, and the man looked at them carefully.

Soon, he looked up from the passports with a knowing look in his eyes.

“You two are not even of age in Korea yet”, he said in Korean. So, he was familiar with the age system they had. Nice, they could use it to their advantage. There was no line behind them so they didn’t need to hurry.

“We will be in a few hours!”

“Well, technically we are since the year changed in there already!”

Donghyuck looked at Jaemin with wide eyes. That was true! 

“Well, too bad we’re in America right now”, the porter chuckled and handed them back their passports. Donghyuck put his own in the inside pocket of his jacket when Jaemin shoved his into the back pocket of his pants. He was _so_ gonna lose it.

“We have friends here! Could you let us in, _please?"_ Jaemin tried his cuteness trick but the man’s expression didn’t waver. Damn, that was one of their best weapons.

“Friends? Who?” he asked instead.

“Mark Lee!” Jaemin said enthusiastically. Thank god, because Donghyuck wouldn’t have remembered his full name. 

“Mark?” The man seemed to recognize the name. “Mark has friends?”

“Of course!” Jaemin nodded even more enthusiastically now that his efforts were paying off. "He asked us to come here!" 

The man puckered his eyebrows and looked like he was thinking about it. Good! Young alpha porters were always easy! The man glanced behind himself to the bar and he looked like he rolled his eyes, but once he turned back, he'd had a change of heart. 

“Okay, go in. But _please_ behave and don’t cause a scene”

“Ah, thank you so much!” Jaemin clapped his hands and walked in, Donghyuck in tow.

And that was how their night properly started. It was nearing nine o’clock, so quite early for clubs to be open. Maybe it was because it was New Year’s Eve. There were quite a lot of people inside already though, and Jaemin led them straight to the bar.

“Let’s do shots”

“Let’s buy long drinks so we don’t have to keep standing here forever”

“Let’s do both”, Jaemin’s eyes were glimmering. Donghyuck loved to party with him.

“Sure”

Donghyuck had no idea what Jaemin got for them - this was the one thing that the younger had learned to do in English on his course, and even that had probably not been in the course curriculum - but when he had downed the first shot with Jaemin, they headed to the dance floor.

The music playing was very general, Donghyuck drank his drink fast and started dancing to the beat since there was still quite a lot of space on the floor - most people didn’t dare step on it before they were drunk. Donghyuck and Jaemin were different though. They both loved to dance, they had taken dance lessons together for years and although the floor of the club wouldn’t let them show off much, it was enough to let them enjoy the beat. 

It hadn’t come from just anywhere, that Donghyuck preferred Jaemin as his party friend over everyone else. Renjun and Jeno were too well-behaved to even try entering a bar or drinking before they were officially adults. Yangyang was crazy enough to join but he usually ditched them early. The others were too young - One time last summer they had managed to persuade Chenle into joining them, but the younger had drunk a few and proceeded to throw up for so long that Donghyuck and Jaemin had been afraid they would have to call an ambulance.

But he had passed out and they had taken him to spend his night at Renjun’s - who had yelled at them for thirty minutes for luring the pure boy to do something so stupid and illegal. Chenle was probably scarred for life but to be honest, maybe it was better for him that way. Chenle was too pure for nightlife anyway.

Jaemin and Donghyuck were quite similar in what they liked to do and how long they could be out. Donghyuck’s parents, as well as Jaemin’s own older brother, were all convinced that it was Jaemin luring Donghyuck to sin - that was a nice plus as well. In reality, they were both to blame.

A fair amount of men, most likely alphas, were eyeing Jaemin and him with curiosity. Jaemin was just about done with his drink as well, so Donghyuck got an idea.

“Yo Jaemin”, Donghyuck yelled over the music. “Wanna put on a show?”

The light flickered in Jaemin’s eyes as he realized what Donghyuck was asking. He glanced at the men who were obviously staring at them and then nodded.

And leaned down to kiss Donghyuck. His hands were all over Donghyuck’s body and Donghyuck followed his movements. They both knew very well that it drove alphas crazy. He and Jaemin had been fooling around for ages at that point, so they knew exactly what to do to appeal to the audience. 

And they both liked putting on a show. That usually resulted in lots of attention and free drinks, and who wouldn’t want that? Donghyuck didn’t really do one night stands but he could make out with handsome alphas and betas for fun and then disappear. He knew exactly what to do to get what he wanted.

The effect was exactly what he had wished for this time as well. Some alphas came closer, dancing awkwardly but obviously trying their best. There was an alpha who offered to buy Donghyuck and Jaemin a drink right away. Of course, there was. Donghyuck chatted with him for a short while but he got bored soon - the language barrier was annoying and the alpha was boring. Jaemin seemed to have a blast though (he didn’t care that his English sucked, he just threw incomplete sentences at him and the alpha’s heart burst at how cute he was) So, Donghyuck excused himself to go to the bathroom.  
  
He drank the rest of his drink on the way - apple cider, not one of Donghyuck's favorites. The alpha had chosen it for him without asking questions. Because of course, omegas were supposed to like everything sweet and mild. Oh well, it had been free so there was no reason to complain. Alcohol was alcohol.  
  
In the bathroom, Donghyuck stared at himself in the mirror. His lip gloss had spread for obvious reasons but otherwise, he still looked good. He ruffled his hair a little. He could already feel the effects of alcohol, making his vision less focused. He was such a lightweight, but so was Jaemin - he would have to keep an eye on him tonight, once he got back. 

A couple of omega girls entered and eyed him with uncertainty. Donghyuck absolutely hated it - the bathrooms had been separated into _feminine_ and _masculine_ (to put it simply: those who could get pregnant and those who couldn't) and Donghyuck looked like a man, obviously, because he was one. He knew that the girls could smell him and know that he was just as much an omega as them, but still, Donghyuck hated how he always stuck out like a sore thumb.  
  
Omega males had always been the target of discrimination. The scientists were not sure why they even existed since they were essentially useless - humanity would do fine without them since the girls could get pregnant easier, and their bodies were better formed for carrying and caring for a child. Male omegas couldn't make anyone else pregnant despite having male genitals, their ejaculations were as useless as female orgasms, their bodies were soft but not soft enough, pregnancies were much more difficult for male omegas than they were for female ones. 

Some theories suggested that it was because of a series of mutations in their genes that made it possible for male omegas to exist. That far away in history, humanity had been so close to extinction that even males had to be able to carry children. Or something. Donghyuck had heard of that a lot in high school, how he was just a reminder of their species' desperation, a residue of evolution that should disappear. There were fewer and fewer omega males each generation, so it made sense.   
  
There were more omegas in Eastern Asia than anywhere else, and even there they were rare. Rare enough, that they caught Donghyuck's eye whenever he saw one, although it wasn't that weird. They were kinda like people with neon hair - like, it wasn't that weird but you couldn't see them everywhere either. Donghyuck knew that it was less in the US and that was probably why the girls had stared at him for a while, making sure he wasn't just a beta man, getting ready to molest some girls in the bathroom.  
  
Donghyuck, just like other male omegas, often felt like they didn't belong anywhere. Being labeled as something useless, a whim of nature, really hurt him and he had started to believe in it himself at some point. He wasn't really a man, but he definitely wasn't a woman. He was an omega - but an incomplete one at that as well.  
  
Thank god he had met Jaemin in middle school. He, alongside his older brother, had taught Donghyuck that being a male omega was a blessing. It was rare, beautiful and he was good enough just the way he was. He had been created this way for a reason - there was nothing wrong with him.  
  
Donghyuck was usually able to hold his head up high and be proud of what he was. But there were times like these when he was reminded of just how different he was.  
  
Well. He shouldn't dwell on it. Really, almost everyone he knew had been shamed and bullied for something. He thought of Jaemin, who had been slut-shamed for being an omega and wanting to live as a sexual being rather than squeeze into the tight mold that had been made for omegas. He thought of Yangyang who had been bullied for being attracted to alphas despite being a male beta himself. He thought of Renjun who had been questioned about his alpha status for being small in build and having a gentle personality. He thought of Chenle, who apparently had a voice too high for a male beta, and Jisung who was too skinny to be an alpha. And Jeno was too soft for a male beta.  
  
The world was disgusting, no one was good enough.  
  
Donghyuck didn't want to think of that too long, though. He knew that it was the alcohol playing with his mood - he should go out there, celebrate like he had planned to do. Find people to talk to while Jaemin was making out with the hottest alpha at the club. He would have to swallow his pride and deal with the language barrier - he _did_ know some English, maybe he could just find people to dance with? So, he took one last look at the mirror and walked out.  
  
"So, you're on a mission, huh?"

Donghyuck heard a familiar voice behind him when he had finally made his way to the bar again. He turned around to see Mark Lee leaning against the counter, his black card between his index and middle finger. Donghyuck felt oddly glad that he was there - the man spoke Korean, that was a big plus. 

Mark had styled his hair so that his forehead was showing, and he was wearing all black. He looked quite good, now that Donghyuck paid attention. He was smirking a little, and Donghyuck had a feeling that the alpha might have seen what had happened earlier.  
  
"Yeah, well, I flew ten hours to get here! Of course, I'm going to party!"  
  
"Fair enough", Mark chuckled. The bartender turned to them at that moment, and Mark asked: "What do you want to drink? My treat"  
  
"Beer" Donghyuck answered. Mark didn't question his (weird for a sweet omega) taste in drinks and just translated that to the bartender. Nice, another free drink and it wasn't even ten o'clock yet. Donghyuck eyed Mark as he paid - might as well spend time with this one. Mark could entertain him now that Jaemin was occupied.  
  
He could play with him a little. 

"Aren't you afraid of what Jaemin's going to think?"  
  
"Um", Mark looked confused. "Are you two, like, actually together? I thought you were just showing off"  
  
Oh, right, they were in America after all. Mark must have seen stunts like that before.  
  
"Yeah, you're right. We were. And the goal was to get free drinks from horny alphas like you"  
  
Mark laughed as the drinks arrived. The bartender placed a cider in front of Donghyuck and he was just about to curse but Mark moved quickly and switched the drinks. Ah, so the cider had been for him. It was such a small thing really - Society had decided that omegas were supposed to have a sweet tooth and alphas liked bitter stuff, without any biological backup. It was just supposed to be like that. But seeing Mark break that small norm, and not batting an eye on Donghyuck doing the same, was kind of nice.

They said that America was more developed in certain ways. Maybe this was one? Nah, it was probably just Mark.

“And you fell for it so _easily_ ”

“Maybe this is my way of guilt-tripping you into spending some time with me?” Mark said with a smirk and took a sip of his overly sweet beverage. Was he challenging Donghyuck?

“If you think you can buy my time then you’re messing with the wrong person”, Donghyuck answered and took a sip as well. He had drunk two drinks (and a shot) already, the taste of the beer wasn’t nearly as strong on his tongue as it probably should have been.

“Okay, sure”, Mark shrugged. “If you want to go back to wandering around alone then you’re free to go”

“I wasn’t wandering around, I was looking for the bathroom”, Donghyuck hated how Mark saw through his actions. Wait, had he been keeping an eye on Donghyuck? Mark didn’t seem dangerous though, maybe it was okay. Donghyuck and Jaemin _had_ been looking for attention after all.

Mark signed at Donghyuck to follow him so he did - after glancing back to make sure Jaemin was okay. He had moved just a little to the side on the dancefloor but was talking to a bunch of people excitedly. He would be okay.

“Who is this Baekhyun guy anyway?” Mark asked when they had sat down at one of the tables located much further from the dance floor. The music was still loud but now they could at least talk a little without destroying their vocal cords. “He must be really important if you had to come to look for him all the way from Korea”

“He is my omega father”, Donghyuck answered and bit his tongue immediately. The alcohol was wiping away the little restrictions he still had for himself. He didn’t know Mark, he shouldn’t talk to him openly yet. But come to think of it, he had been throwing away his information here and there already so maybe it would be okay to tell him something?

“Ohh, right”, Mark nodded. “Were you, like, adopted?”

“No, I’ve been raising myself under the bridge ever since I was two months old”, Donghyuck deadpanned. “Of course I was adopted”

“Okay okay, you don’t have to be so mean”, Mark lifted his hands in defense. Had he been mean? Nah, if an alpha couldn’t take a little sharpness then who was he, even.

Donghyuck grimaced at his own thoughts. It wasn’t fair to think that when he himself had always been bullied because of prejudices. 

“Where are your friends, Mark Lee?” Donghyuck changed the subject. He hadn’t read the messages that Mark had exchanged with Jaemin but for what Jaemin had told him, he had expected the alpha to be there with his friends.

“Nah, here and there. Most of them are in other bars right now”

“Why are you here then?”

“Because I know the porter”, Mark chuckled. Obviously, and the porter knew him. “Johnny hyung is the only one who lets me in”

“Oh”, Donghyuck nodded slowly. “So, you’re underage”

“I’m nineteen, so what”, Mark sounded defensive. “I bet you’re not 21 either”

“I’m also nineteen”, Donghyuck shrugged. 

“Let’s speak comfortably then”, Mark answered with a smile.

Donghyuck was going to do that anyway. Of course, he was well aware that Mark might be using the international age system while he was using the Korean one, but Donghyuck didn’t bother going that deep. They were close in age anyway.

They fell into an easy conversation. They talked about Korea a lot since Mark had visited twice a year as a kid but hadn’t for a few years - what had changed, which places were popular in Seoul, what was trendy, et cetera. Then, they started to talk about music because of Mark’s studies (and Donghyuck’s in the future, hopefully, as well) and they discovered that they had quite a lot in common taste-wise. Mark liked to rap when Donghyuck preferred singing, but they listened to some same bands and Donghyuck recommended many Korean ones for Mark to try.

It was comfortable with him. At some point, Donghyuck forgot all about the initial dislike he had had towards the guy. They ordered a couple more drinks and every time they went to the counter, Donghyuck looked out for Jaemin. The younger had found a man he liked, and he was still standing on his own two feet, smiling. When their eyes met, Donghyuck waved at him, and Jaemin smiled back. He was alright.

Donghyuck didn’t even notice how much time had passed since the last time they had ordered something when Jaemin came stumbling to the table.

“A-HA! Found ya!” Jaemin was drunk, that much was clear. He was dragging behind someone, alpha or beta most likely but it could be an omega as well - his build wasn’t that big and Jaemin was open-minded. Donghyuck couldn’t smell anyone specific in the club that had filled with people as the clock ticked on and on.

“Eyooo guys when is the year gonna change?!” Jaemin screamed over the music that had also gotten louder during their time there. _Oh right,_ that was an important thing to check out. The man Jaemin had dragged with him was already pressing kisses to his neck and cheeks and Jaemin was giggling. Mark looked at them with wide eyes and Donghyuck searched for his phone for a while, so that he could see the time.

It was 23:26.

“How long from here to Times Square?” Donghyuck asked Mark, but he had to repeat it twice since the first time the alpha was too engrossed in staring at Jaemin and his hook up, and the next time he simply didn’t hear. Donghyuck and Jaemin had taken a long route when searching for this specific bar, so he didn’t really know himself.

“Um, twenty to thirty minutes, maybe?”

“Okay, then we gotta go. Now”

He repeated that to Jaemin and the younger nodded and pulled the hook up behind him. Donghyuck led them out of the club and Mark took care of the job once they were outside. 

It was raining, and Donghyuck said goodbye to his pretty makeup and hairstyle. Oh, well. He didn’t feel cold though, and that was thanks to the alcohol and having so many people around them. The streets leading to Times Square were filled with a happy crowd celebrating the ending of 2018. 

Mark walked fast, and although Donghyuck didn’t personally have any difficulty following him, Jaemin and his hook up (oh god, what was he supposed to call the man? Jaemin’s beta, yeah, that was much better) were stumbling over their feet and laughing. Donghyuck had to stop Mark by grabbing his arm many times just so he wouldn’t run off without them.

At some point, he just didn’t let go of his arm anymore. Mark raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment on it, just continued leading the way.

“Alright, this is the closest we can get”, he yelled, when they were barely on the right street but the crowd was so huge, they couldn’t get any closer. The sounds coming from the square were so loud, people were screaming, there was music blasting and echoing from the high buildings. But at least they could see the ball going down, and that was enough for Donghyuck. Jaemin was pretty occupied so he didn’t look like he minded either. It was only a few minutes to midnight, they had gotten there just in time.

“Any New Year’s resolutions, Donghyuck?” Mark asked, and Donghyuck realized he was still holding on to his arm. He let go.

“Not my kind of thing”, Donghyuck answered. He hadn’t thought about it. Maybe one could be finding his father? That wasn't just up to him though. Maybe, doing well in college? But he might not even get in, so he shouldn’t make any promises. Wait, when had Lee Donghyuck ever been afraid of failure? Of course, he would go to college!

It was better not to make any promises, still. So many things in life just happened and the currents threw the people left and right without asking questions.

“Oh, okay”, Mark answered. “Well, I have some”

“Good for you”

Donghyuck didn’t _mean_ to be mean, it just came naturally. Like it did when he was with his friends - he was sassy and sarcastic, to a point where nothing he said could be taken in without careful interpretation. He liked to keep people on their toes. But people other than his friends often thought he was just malevolent.

Mark just laughed, like he had done many times during the night. The boy surely liked to laugh.

“Are you sure your friend is alright?” He nodded towards Jaemin, who was currently giggling with the beta and whispering things to his ear clumsily and not very quietly. Donghyuck just shrugged.

“Yeah, he does this every time”

“Oh”, Mark blinked. “Okay”

"I'm sorry, you lost your chance," Donghyuck said, teasingly, not sorry at all.

"Oh I don't like stuff like... that", Mark made sure not to glance at Jaemin and the beta who were currently doing god knew what behind them.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh you know, being with other people... easily"

“Do you mean Jaemin is easy? Are you slut-shaming my best friend?”

“No, what? Stop putting words into my mouth, that's not what I meant!”

Mark sounded so panicked that Donghyuck couldn’t help but laugh. The numbers started going down from 60 and the anticipation could be heard in the crowd. Donghyuck turned towards the clock.

"Don't worry, I know what you meant", he added, just in case. With his friends, he wouldn't have had to, but he didn't want to bully Mark too much. No bad feelings should be left in the past year, it brought bad luck to the new one. Wasn't that how it went?

“Well, do you have any hopes you have for next year, at least?” Mark asked, changing the subject.

Donghyuck shrugged. He had many, and becoming of age brought another set of freedoms and responsibilities to the equation. Well, maybe he should just say what was uppermost on his heart.

“I want to find my omega father”

Mark nodded, his eyes glued to the numbers.

28,

27,

26,

“What about you, Mark Lee?”

“I think I just… I just hope I’ll be happy, whatever happens”

Donghyuck nodded. That sounded good too. He also wanted to be happy.

And he wanted that to be enough.

15, 

14, 

13, 

“Omg Donghyuck, our last seconds as children!”

Jaemin had let go of his beta for a short while in order to hug Donghyuck. It was disorganized, Donghyuck knew that he was past tipsy himself but Jaemin was far beyond that, leaning against Donghyuck with his whole weight.

“Yeah, crazy!”

“Ten seconds and we’ll be legal! Can’t wait!” Jaemin leaned away to return to his beta, who was waiting with open arms. Mark eyed him with confusion on his face but Donghyuck just laughed. He should pay attention to Jaemin tonight. 

5,

4,

3,

2,

1

The music blasted and Jaemin was making out with the beta shamelessly. That looked kind of nice - oh, well, no not anymore, the man squeezed Jaemin’s ass and Jaemin nearly jumped on him. The people nearby stared at them with disbelief but Donghyuck didn’t bother doing anything about it. It was none of his business, he didn’t care.

It was 2019. The year that would change his life, hopefully for the better. The music was loud and fireworks were going off and people were joyful everywhere around them. Hugging and kissing each other and throwing new years wishes around. 

“Happy new year!” Mark yelled in English and hit Donghyuck’s back. Donghyuck didn’t care for meaningless New Year’s kisses anyway so that was a good New Year’s greeting in his opinion. He repaid the action and hit Mark with much more force, to which the other yelped. 

“Okay, so, we should leave before everyone else decides to do so”, Mark yelled over the crowd once he had gotten over his shock. 

“Right, that’s a good idea”, Donghyuck turned to hit Jaemin so he would stop making out with his beta and focus for one _second._

“Where do you want to go now, Jaemin?”

“Um”, Jaemin took a long look around and then back to his beta. “Back? To the club?”

“Sure”, Mark answered. He grabbed Donghyuck’s arm, who in turn took Jaemin’s other hand and they made their way through the crowd like an annoying festival train.

The rest of the night… Well, Donghyuck remembered dancing, drinking, and losing Jaemin into the crowd and then lots and lots of conversations about aliens and music and watermelons (???) and suddenly realizing that it was almost three-thirty and he hadn’t seen Jaemin in nearly two hours. He had two missed calls from him, as well as multiple text messages. 

_**Nana 02:32  
** Dinghyuvk shere ate you  
Oh hod i dont feel so foof _

_**Nana 02:38**  
Domgjyivk fsglg  
m outdifr  
Itdd folg ib hedd_

_**Nana 02:48**  
_ _Rhe hot poryer slpha is callws hohnny  
_ _U rhew up  
_ _yokjl_

 _**Nana 02:59**  
_ _Cone outsife  
_ _Oll eait here_

 _**Nana 03:10**  
_ _Fonhyydin ifs xold_

Mark was still with him, and Donghyuck showed him the texts. The other seemed to have a bit clearer head since he took Donghyuck’s arm and started leading him out. Good, Donghyuck would have gone the other way had he been alone. The lights were distracting and everywhere looked the same.

When they got out, Jaemin was easy to spot. He was leaning against the wall of the club, alone, curled into a ball. The rain had ended and it wasn’t as cold, but it still wasn’t good that he was there alone.

“Hyuck!” Jaemin yelled upon seeing him and Donghyuck realized immediately that he had been crying. His make up was smeared everywhere. “Where have you been?”

“Inside, _where_ _you should have been as well!_ ” Donghyuck kicked himself for not having realized that Jaemin was gone earlier. How long had he been here? What had happened, why was he crying? Donghyuck wiped away his tears to his sleeve and realized that Jaemin was wearing a thick winter jacket on top of his own, thin one. He didn’t own one, where had he gotten it?

“Mark!”, oh, right, he was with them as well. Donghyuck turned around to see the porter waving at Mark to come to him. Jaemin still seemed upset, so Donghyuck stayed with him, and wrapped his arms around him. 

“What have _you_ been doing? Why are you outside?”

“They kicked me out”, Jaemin cried pathetically. He was always dramatic, but especially when drunk. Donghyuck was starting to sober up in the night air, and he had to pay attention to understand what Jaemin was saying - the younger was still mumbling, his pronunciation far from clear.

“What, why would they do that?”

“I don’t know”, Jaemin sounded frustrated. “I only fell down a few stairs! And I told them I just turned twenty, so where’s the problem?”

Ah. Donghyuck could see the problem. But he didn’t bother saying anything. Jaemin would understand in the morning. Instead, he kept paying attention to something else - Jaemin was smelling like a beta, oddly much. No way...

“Jaemin, blow my way”.

He did as asked. Donghyuck immediately turned away holding his nose.

“Oh god, did you blow the beta in the bathroom or something?”

“Beta? Ah, yes, that was amazing! But he left me behind” Jaemin giggled and then started to cry again. He was so out of it, he fell on the ground and Donghyuck had to use force to get him back up. Oh god, how was he supposed to drag the younger home like this? Jaemin could pass out any minute now. Not to mention, the smell of beta was disgustingly strong and Donghyuck didn't want it all over himself. Call him superficial or whatever but Donghyuck did NOT want to smell like sex if he hadn't even been the one enjoying it. 

“Hey, guys, good news”, Mark came back running. He hadn't really been far anyway, the door of the club was only around five meters away. "Johnny hyung promised to give us all a ride after his shift is over. Just wait for… 20 minutes? Can you hold on until then?”

Jaemin was sobbing and half asleep, and Donghyuck knew that he was going to be sick soon as well. But he nodded - they didn’t have any other choice, did they?

...

“What happened last night? I don’t remember anything after Times Square. It’s hazy even before that”

They woke up well past twelve o’clock. Donghyuck had had some energy left so he had wiped away most of his makeup the night before but Jaemin had fallen asleep the minute Donghyuck had been able to drag him to bed. Donghyuck had also thrown up before he had gone to sleep - maybe that was why he was feeling a bit better in the morning.

“Maybe it’s better that way”, Donghyuck tried his very best not to laugh. Jaemin looked so small curled in the blankets, his make up smeared across his face and his hair a mess. Donghyuck patted that down as well as he could. “At least you had fun”

“Did I? Please don’t tell me more, I know that look and it's not a good one”, Jaemin hid his face on his pillow and Donghyuck let his laughter out.

“Happy New Year, Jaemin”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> During my first semester in college, I got drunk every single week and did the most ridiculous of things. I wasn’t quite as wild as Jaemin here but… uh… I’m glad I don’t remember most of the things I did, I’ve only heard them through grapevine and from my friends. And if you have not experienced memory loss then let me tell you something - you do NOT want to go through that.
> 
> Don’t drink, kids, it’s really not that fun, trust me. I’ve fallen down the stairs and broken my bones and ruined relationships and cried and you name it, I’ve done so many things that I regret. Drinking is really not good for mental health, physical health, relationships, or your financial situation. In reality, the funny stories cost you ten times more bad ones, so if you drink, stick to one or two drinks. Drinking like Donghyuck and Jaemin did in this chapter is DANGEROUS!
> 
> Anyway, this was a bit different and longer than what I normally post but I hope it was okay! The search for the mysterious omega father will continue in the next chapter…


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah so many things happened. Chen became a father, NCT Dream made a comeback, and Mark made cameos in their vlives and Instagram pictures... Taeyong's message to Dongyoung and Mark's one to Donghyuck in their To You videos destroyed our hearts... What a time to be alive.

“Yeah Donghyuck befriended the alpha I told you about, and I kinda lost my wallet but, like, otherwise we’re alright”

Donghyuck heard Jaemin speak on the phone when he got out of the shower. That was the only reason he bothered to put on clothes - he usually preferred air drying himself but he also knew that Jaemin liked to call facetime so he wouldn’t take the risk. 

_“Wallet? I told you a million times to be careful, Jaemin! What if someone steals your identity?”_

“I _was_ careful, hyung! I’m sure we’re gonna find it soon, don’t worry”

_“How can I not worry knowing you’re there, on the other side of the world, with Donghyuck of all people? Did you call your credit card company? And the consulate? You weren’t drinking, were you?”_

The sweet voice of Jaemin’s big brother filled the otherwise quiet apartment. Donghyuck stepped to the bedroom to see Jaemin lying on the bed, showing an ugly face to the camera but smiling when he saw Donghyuck again.

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear!” Jaemin almost sang. “Come say hi to Jungwoo hyung, Hyuckie!”

Ah, Jungwoo. The most gorgeous man on earth. He was Jaemin’s older brother, the most beautiful male omega (or just a human being in general, women included) that Donghyuck had ever seen. Jaemin’s parents had already beaten the odds by having two male omegas in the family, but having Jungwoo… everything about him was perfect: his face, his body, his voice, even his mannerisms were charming and attractive as hell. He was soft-spoken and gentle, a perfect example of a feminine male omega.

But he was also very smart and strong-minded, and really protective over his younger brother (and for a good reason - Jaemin could be a threat to himself) and was obviously not very fond of this whole idea. Donghyuck could admit that their trip was quite crazy but well, one should live while they were young.

“Hi, Jungwoo hyung!” Donghyuck yelled and lied down next to Jaemin. Despite his doubts, Jungwoo’s face still lit up when he saw Donghyuck, and he greeted him politely. He had colored his hair sweet honey blonde and it fit his soft features well.

_“Hi, Donghyuck, happy new year! Any signs of your father?”_

“Not yet, no”, he admitted. Jungwoo was like a family member for him too. “But I just contacted one of his past friends!”

 _“Good, that sounds great!”_ Jungwoo smiled like he always did. _“What about the translators I talked to you about? Have you found one?”_

“Nah”, Jaemin shrugged. “Donghyuck doesn't want one”

 _“Donghyuck”_ , Jungwoo scolded him gently, patiently. _“Dongyoung told me that these things are complicated. You need someone to negotiate and talk to locals for you, or else you’re going to be there forever”_

“What does Dongyoung know about anything though?”, Jaemin rolled his eyes.

Dongyoung was Jungwoo’s boyfriend, or should he say, _fiancee._ The alpha had put a ring on it after the second date so no one had believed they would last, least of all Jaemin - people tended to run after Jungwoo and promise the world to him just to break his heart in the end because they didn’t like how independent he actually was. However, Dongyoung and Jungwoo had been together for almost two years now, living together for one, and Jungwoo was still happy and free of any knock-ups. Donghyuck started to believe in the goodness of the guy. Jaemin still didn’t, but he was Jungwoo’s brother. It was natural for him to be sceptic. 

In a way, he was protective over his brother too. 

And although Donghyuck believed Dongyoung was a good guy, he still didn’t necessarily like his personality. The alpha could be a bit of a know it all and obnoxious, sticking his nose where it didn’t belong.

 _“Well, he is good at doing research”_ , Jungwoo defended him. _“Finding people is difficult, especially when you have half of your info missing. A local, even if they’re not a professional, can help you a long way!”_

“Well, Donghyuck _does_ have a Korean-American friend here now!” Jaemin said. “He can help us, right?”

“Uh, I’m not sure…”

_“Well, that’s great news! I knew Donghyuck would figure something out, even if you’re too distracted to pay attention to what's important”_

Jaemin gasped and soon enough they were bickering. Donghyuck zoned out. Jaemin was convinced that Donghyuck and Mark were close now because Mark had left his number in Donghyuck’s phone and somehow gotten his in return - he had texted them in the morning to ask if they were feeling okay and Jaemin had gone batshit crazy, giggling how Donghyuck had managed to make an alpha fall for him so fast. Donghyuck had only needed to remind Jaemin about his own adventures with a beta he no longer even remembered, and the younger had shut up.

Donghyuck had eyed Mark’s number though, for a short while. The alpha had said he would like to help and had been really interested in their mission. He had also said that he was currently on a break from school so he would help gladly as he had nothing else to do either. Why not use that help, when it was so generously offered? Maybe Mark would know where to look, better than Donghyuck and Jaemin since he was a local.

Oh, well, Donghyuck still had a few clues he could explore alone. Maybe he’d find his father through them, no need to go whining to a random foreign alpha for help.

 _“Oh, and Jaemin, did you remember to pack enough heat suppressants?”_ Jungwoo asked when they had finally concluded their fight - Jungwoo won, he always did. Jungwoo was the only person Jaemin ever lost to. Jaemin had that natural charm and way to persuade people to do anything for him. The only person it didn’t work on was Jungwoo, and maybe Renjun sometimes. Both Jungwoo and Jaemin had the whole world wrapped around their little fingers. That was terrifying.

Jaemin scratched his hair absentmindedly.

“Mmh, I think so?”

_“What do you mean you think so? You won’t get any without a prescription, you have to be extra careful with them when you’re abroad!”_

“Yeah yeah I know, I think I have enough for a few weeks. We’re not gonna take that long anyway”

_“You should always take extra just in case! I- okay, fine. And Donghyuck? Did you pack enough?”_

It wasn’t weird at all for Jungwoo to be asking that kind of a thing from him. Jungwoo, in general, was very open about things that were still seen as taboo for most - heats, sex, birth control, omega sexuality in general - and also, ever since Donghyuck had presented, the older omega had taken him under his wing. Being a male omega was hard, Jungwoo knew that and since Donghyuck’s parents were just a bit lost at what to do and how to teach him about it, Jungwoo had filled that part well. He was already basically an older brother to Donghyuck, through Jaemin.

So, him asking about Donghyuck’s heats wasn’t unheard of or inappropriate.

“Yeah, uh”, Donghyuck wasn’t sure about his situation with suppressants though. His heats were irregular, and eating suppressants was a pain. All brands he had tried only caused him annoying side effects, and he had yet to find a pill that worked properly. So he wasn’t eating any. He had just finished his heat a few weeks before leaving Korea so he was pretty sure he would be alright - he would be safe for another month or so, the usual cycle was around three months unless nothing weird happened.

Jungwoo knew his struggles quite well, but he didn’t know the latest changes in Donghyuck’s medical history (aka him not being on any suppressants and just living on thin ice which neither sounded good nor worked well) and he didn’t want the older to stress over it so he just answered:

“I did”

_“Good. You have to be careful, especially in America. Dongyoung said that the people around there are... not very traditional.”_

“And you fucking Dongyoung in our parents’ house is traditional?” Jaemin bit back.

 _“That was ONE TIME”_ , Jungwoo blushed bright red and Jaemin laughed. Donghyuck didn’t know the details but apparently, that was the one thing that Jungwoo had ever done in his life that his parents disliked. Jaemin found great joy in teasing him about it - well, when Jungwoo had still lived at home and he and Dongyoung had just started seeing each other, they had been… impatient. 

“Yeah yeah hyung, we’re careful, you don’t have to worry at all!” Jaemin said. Jungwoo didn’t look convinced. “Go argue with Dongyoung or something, I’ll call you later!”

_…_

It turned out that finding Jaemin’s wallet wasn’t that easy after all.

“Are you sure you don’t have it anywhere? Did you check your pockets?” Jaemin asked, panic evident in his voice as he turned his jacket pockets around for the nth time. Jaemin had one of those rich people wallets that only had his cards in it, so technically it could be in any of their pockets. But it wasn’t. Donghyuck was sure of it, they had checked so many times - they didn’t have it.

It was late already. Jaemin and Donghyuck had taken their sweet time to wake up, and Jaemin had only realized a short while ago that it was gone. But now Jaemin was going crazy, searching through their stuff again and again. Donghyuck rarely saw him so stressed. But really, if he had lost all his cards including his credit card, he would be quite screwed. At least he still had his passport - and even that was a miracle. 

Yeah, it was kinda his own fault for getting so drunk but still, people made mistakes, they didn't deserve to get punished for all of them. Donghyuck hadn’t been doing all that well himself either, he could have lost something as well. The major crack on his phone screen was proof enough that he hadn’t exactly been careful last night. 

Donghyuck was munching on an apple while watching Jaemin’s stress levels rise. What were they supposed to do now?

His phone rang. Jaemin didn’t even realize anything was happening, being too focused on his failing mission, so Donghyuck grabbed the phone and walked out of the room. He stared at the number on his way out - an unknown one - and took a deep breath. This could be it, answers! They had left Donghyuck’s phone number in quite a lot of places, it could be anyone.

“Hello? It’s Lee Donghyuck on the phone”

_“Hello, this is Kim Jongdae. Or, uh, Chen”_

Donghyuck’s heart immediately jumped to his throat - he was talking to Chen! His omega father’s friend from New York!

“Ah hello, Kim Jongdae-ssi! Thank you for calling me!”

Donghyuck had left him a message on his Instagram, a DM, with his number attached. The man had actually contacted him! And fast at that, it had only been a day since he had sent the message.

_“Yeah, no problem. Listen, are you sure that you’re looking for the right person? Baekhyun never told me he had a son”_

That reaction was not unexpected. Donghyuck had texted him his story in detail just to make sure he would believe him and not think he was just some random fan sliding to his DMs for attention. He had even included his father’s picture and birthday, everything he knew. Kyungsoo had told him that this was the right Chen. He had to be.

“Yeah, I am. I talked with one of his childhood friends, Do Kyungsoo, and everything matches. I was born in 2000 and you, I believe, met my father sometime in 2010?”

 _“2011 actually, but yeah”_ , Chen, or, Jongdae, answered. _“We used to sing together, have small gigs with another friend of ours. We worked together for almost four years but he never told me about a son”_

Jongdae insisted on that. But the evidence was obvious, even he had to admit that. Baekhyun had come to New York to start over - what reason would he have to tell anyone about a son he had given away anyway?

“I know this must come as a shock to you, but it is the truth”, Donghyuck walked to the balcony and closed the door behind him, to not hear Jaemin’s frustration from the other room. It was chilly outside but Donghyuck had grabbed a blanket with him. His body still felt the effects of last night, the fresh air would be good for him.

 _“Alright, maybe I just have to believe it, I don't see a reason for why you would lie”,_ Jongdae seemed to be thinking about it very deeply. Donghyuck let him take his time, although he was nervous and wanted to know more right away. “ _Well, it’s nice to meet you Donghyuck.”_

“Likewise”, he sat by the glass table on the balcony and wrapped the blanket around himself.

_“And I’m sorry to tell you this but I’m not sure where to find him. I don’t have his number anymore”_

Of course. Typical. Donghyuck felt the urge to hit his head against the glass table but decided against it - he had killed enough brain cells last night, he would desperately need all he had left. Why did no one have this guy’s number? Why did it feel like he didn’t even exist?!

“How did you know him, exactly? Do Kyungsoo told me that you worked together?”

_“Sure! I met your father late 2011 in a Korean Chuseok party in New York and he and I, along with a friend of mine Minseok, started making music together. We went by the name CBX. We wrote songs and performed here and there, wherever we got the chance, usually in bars or charity events. We even had a deal with a small label for a short while, but nothing really came of it. Anyway, those were fun times._

_Now that I think of it… I have no idea what Baekhyun was up to here before we met. The whole time we were together as a group, his day job kept changing constantly and he was always running here and there. Minseok and I took stage names, Xiumin and Chen, but Baekhyun never did. Maybe that’s the reason why he started to gain stalkers. Especially when we played in clubs, he always had people going after him. It’s probably because he was a male omega and people often interpreted his stage behavior as something else._

_Um, I know this is personal but are you a male omega as well? Like Baek- your father?”_

Nah, it wasn’t that personal to Donghyuck. Maybe because his omega had been raised by Jungwoo who deemed nothing too personal.

“Yeah, I am”

_“Okay, well, a word of advice - be extremely careful in New York City. Don’t go out alone during the nights, stay on brightly lit streets, don’t get drunk, it can be really dangerous. There are a lot of bad people out there who are especially interested in beautiful male omegas. If you’re at all like your father then you won’t listen to anything I say but please be careful. Baekhyun faced many things he shouldn’t have and had to pay for his carelessness”_

Jaemin opened the balcony door looking devastated and Donghyuck immediately opened his arms (as well as he could, one hand holding the phone). The younger walked to him, sat next to him and Donghyuck wrapped them both in his blanket. Jaemin didn’t smell as stressed as he had, now he was just tired and sad.

“Sure, I’ll be careful”, Donghyuck answered Jongdae. He really should be more careful. Although they felt extremely unlucky because Jaemin’s wallet was lost, they might actually be really lucky because _that_ was the worst thing that had happened. Jaemin snuggled even closer and Donghyuck took a deep breath. They must have used all their miracles last night. 

_“As I said, I lost touch with Bae- your father, sorry, it feels so weird to call him anyone’s father, he doesn’t seem like the type at all. Anyway, I only know that he had a relationship that went wrong. So wrong, that he had to move and change his phone number several times. I don’t know what kind of a psychopath his ex was, but Baekhyun was scared. I got married and Minseok flew back to South Korea, so we just… lost contact._

_I’m sorry Donghyuck, I really am. I should have been there for your father but I let the world drag me away.”_

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault”, Jaemin hugged him closer as he swallowed. What could have happened to Baekhyun? Maybe this was the reason why he seemed like he didn’t even exist - he had had to hide from some random alpha psychopath who had wanted to own him or something. Kyungsoo hadn’t heard from him in five years and Jongdae in four, could it be…

No, Donghyuck didn’t want to believe in anything too bad. Maybe they had just lost contact and that was all. It happened all the time.

_“Yeah well, if there is anything I can help you with then don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll ask Minseok and a few other friends we had, and if they know something, I’ll tell you right away. If you find him then… please contact me, I would really like to talk to him again.”_

“Okay, will do”.

First Kyungsoo, now Jongdae. The mission Donghyuck was on started to feel much more important. He wasn’t only looking for his father, but also a dear friend of many. He wasn’t only doing it for himself anymore, but for many other people as well. He started to feel responsible.

But that only made him want to work even harder. Baekhyun had been liked by so many, Donghyuck wanted to know what kind of a person had carried him for nine months. And kept for two, before deciding that he didn’t want to keep him anymore.

Donghyuck’s heart was way too deep into this mission. If he didn’t find him now… he would be even more sad, unsatisfied. Jaemin leaning against him calmed some of his nervousness that had risen after Jongdae’s revelation, but he still felt uneasiness starting to make a home into his heart.

_“Um… would you like to see some clips from our performances? Baekhyun was one of the best singers I’ve ever worked with so, if you’d like to hear?”_

Donghyuck’s mood immediately got a little better. He had seen pictures, but he hadn’t seen videos of his father, neither had he heard his voice. That would be yet another thing that would be new to him. Prove to him that this person was indeed real. 

“Yeah, I would love to!”

_“Okay, then I’ll send you some”_

When the phone call ended, Donghyuck put his phone on the table and just looked into the nothingness for a while. He had found something, but he wasn’t sure if he liked it. Well, at least his father had been somewhat alright until 2015. That was reassuring to hear, although, Jongdae had emphasized the fact that he didn’t know for sure. Baekhyun must lead a secretive life and that was often not a good thing. Go figure.

Well, that was exactly what he was about to do.

Jaemin snuggled closer to him but he didn’t say a word. Just comforted Donghyuck with his presence, despite being nervous himself. That was something Donghyuck loved about Jaemin - his ability to read him well and his touchiness that Donghyuck always craved for. They looked down at the alley under the balcony, which was dark normally but even more dangerous looking now that the night was coming. Donghyuck couldn’t help but wonder, had his father met something awful on these streets? Was he… was he even alive anymore?

His phone buzzed on the table.

“Do you want to watch the videos?” Jaemin asked softly. “To see if his voice is any match to yours?” 

“As if it could be” Donghyuck chuckled, trying to find his joy again. If he fell into melancholy now, there was no way he could get up soon again. He was going to find this guy, no matter what. Even if the tracks led him to the New York cemetery - he would find out what had happened, even if it was the last thing he did.

When he took his phone and unlocked it, he was met with a bunch of notifications. Some of them were from Jongdae, video clips he had sent through Instagram, but he also had a few missed calls. From another unknown number. Both he and Jaemin eyed it curiously, and Donghyuck just decided to call it right away- it had been barely ten minutes since the calls had been made, so, at the same time as he had been talking to Jongdae.

“Hello? It’s Lee Donghyuck”

_“Hi, you’re Mark’s friend, right?”_

Um. Not the way Donghyuck had expected the phone call to start. Mark had handed his phone number onwards - that wasn’t cool.

“Yeah?” 

_“Okay. It’s Johnny from the bar”,_ it took a second for Donghyuck to remember who it was. Ah, right, the one who had let them in and begged them to behave, and the one who had had to drive them home because they hadn’t. Mark’s precious Johnny hyung. But why was he calling him?

“Good evening, Johnny-ssi”

 _“Ah, just call me hyung”_ , Johnny said. _“Listen, I think I have something that belongs to your friend”_

A smile spread on Donghyuck’s lips and Jaemin took a sharp breath beside him.

“It doesn’t happen to be a wallet, does it?”

_“Exactly. He must have dropped it in my car last night, but I only found it now. I’m just about to start my shift but would it be okay if I drop it off tomorrow?”_

Jaemin nearly jumped out of the chair because he was so relieved, but they were wrapped in the same blanket so that caused both of them to lose balance. Jaemin fell back down against Donghyuck who yelped, pushing the younger away from him. Jaemin fell on the cold balcony floor with a thump - that must have hurt his precious bum but Donghyuck wasn’t concerned about it at the moment.

“Ah, sorry. I mean, we can come to your place to get it, we’re going to come to Manhattan anyway”

_“Okay, sure, I’ll text you the address. Can you please come after two o’clock though? I work late so I usually sleep late too”_

Jaemin was so happy that he kissed Donghyuck immediately after the phone call ended. That wasn’t really what Donghyuck had prepared for so it was very messy. Then, Jaemin leaned back, laughing out loud. Donghyuck couldn’t help but smile as well - everything was alright, they had found Jaemin’s stuff.

They celebrated by ordering lots of food (Jaemin was going to owe him big time, for the first time in their friendship) and watching a movie from the huge TV of the apartment. It was a smart TV, so they could watch the videos that Jongdae had sent them straight from it as well. There were some better and some worse quality videos there, of three guys singing happy, catchy, and sometimes even more sexy songs. Donghyuck recognized Jongdae - Chen - immediately from the voice, and Baekhyun from the hair that changed color between every recording. They were all really good but hearing his father's voice, and seeing him perform was just something much more fascinating. His smooth voice and the way he interacted with the others in-between songs felt so familiar.

Had he sung to Donghyuck when he had been born? Not these songs, absolutely not, but Donghyuck felt like he knew that voice, somewhere deep in his heart. The guy on the screen looked older than he did in most of Kyungsoo's pictures, but he was definitely still the same. With a childish grin and lots of energy and stage charisma, he looked happy. Jaemin watched the performances with Donghyuck, and they even listened to some of the recorded songs from the huge speakers of the apartment.

Whoever this Yangyang’s dancer friend was, he must be crazy good at dancing if he could afford such a nice apartment with so much stuff in there. 

What was his name again? Chitta… something.

...

Funny enough, the address Johnny sent him led them to the same apartment complex where they had met Mark for the first time. Well, the alpha must have been there for a reason. They got to the elevator that led to his apartment, and Donghyuck couldn’t help but wonder how cool and modern the whole place looked - did porters earn this well? Damn, he should have become that instead!

Or, well, the porters that he had seen were usually tall alphas because they had their mighty alpha voice and skills to terrify misbehaving customers. Male omegas, or omegas in general, would only get harassed in an occupation like that. Fighting with drunk people was not something Donghyuck enjoyed doing so no thanks.

They got to a door that had a matching number with the text Johnny had sent him and rang the bell. The one who opened the door, though, wasn’t Johnny.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Donghyuck asked when Mark stared at them with wide eyes. 

“I could ask you the same thing”

“Is it the omegas?” Donghyuck heard Johnny’s voice from somewhere inside the apartment. “Let them in!”

They stepped beside Mark into the apartment. Damn, it was huge. Big windows and a living room and an open kitchen. Two people were sitting at the dining table in front of a huge window, and Donghyuck recognized the taller of the two - Johnny. He was wearing a soft hoodie and sweatpants but he still looked handsome and intimidating. He smiled happily and waved at them. The other was a bit shorter but even more handsome than Johnny (In Donghyuck’s own, humble opinion), his eyes were shining as he eyed them with interest.

“Hi again! I’m glad to see you feeling well”, Johnny chuckled.

Was he making fun of them? Subtly, yeah, Donghyuck didn’t dare pull a face since this man was a stranger but he saved this to his memory. Jaemin crouched down to take his shoes off and Donghyuck balanced against the wall to do the same. Johnny seemed to be wearing shoes but he was an American and unless he told them otherwise, Donghyuck would take his shoes off inside. He found them annoying. 

“Hyung, why are they here?” Mark asked as he walked back to the table. 

“I invited them”, Johnny answered. “Come here, sit down, you’re not in a hurry are you?”

Jaemin was clutching his hands nervously - he rarely got nervous. Jaemin had lost a lot of stuff during his life and not bat an eye, because he could easily afford to buy a new phone or shoes or whatever it was that he had lost or ruined. But this time, maybe it was because they were in a foreign country, he was really nervous. 

The only person who they didn’t know yet got up, and walked to them to shake hands. He was smiling brightly and when he spoke, his voice was low and smooth as well - damn, Mark’s friends were attractive.

“Hi, nice to meet you both! I’m Jung Jaehyun. I was born in Seoul but I grew up in Connecticut! My English name is Jeffrey, Johnny sometimes uses it but please you two just say Jaehyun, I can’t use that name here because no one knows how to pronounce it and it’s driving me crazy. Anyway, it’s so nice to meet the people Mark has talked so much about”

“I have?” Mark’s cheeks turned pink. “Uh, it’s because they’re on a mission, and that is very interesting. So that’s the reason”

“Oh, is that so?” Jaehyun smiled at him amusedly and turned back to Donghyuck and Jaemin with a grin on his face. “Which one of you has a sunshine smile and a voice that would make nightingales jealous?”

“Seriously, hyung, shut up!”

Johnny was laughing loudly from the table and Mark was turning redder and redder. Ah, that was very… interesting. Cute. Jaemin wiggled his eyebrows at Donghyuck and he returned an amused smile. 

“Ah but in all seriousness, I’m glad to see that you’re both okay”, Johnny continued from the table. Jaehyun led them in, and both Jaemin and Donghyuck sat by the table as well, Donghyuck next to Johnny and Jaemin opposite of him, next to Jaehyun. Mark got up to go to the fridge. “You were both so hammered, I feared you would find yourselves from the hospital”

“Well we are experts”, Jaemin assured him and flashed one of his charming smiles at Johnny. Well, that hadn’t taken him long. The nervousness was gone and flirty Jaemin was back in business.

“Yeah, I guess that’s why we have your stuff here”, Johnny shot back. When Jaemin’s smile fell, Johnny chuckled and put the wallet on the table. He ruffled Jaemin’s hair almost too casually as the younger hugged the object and opened it to check that everything was still inside. Well, that was that for Jaemin’s flirting. Not like he would have had that much of a chance anyway - if Johnny had had to look after his drunk ass for hours, the probability that he had left a charming first impression was very low. 

“It’s okay”, Johnny continued. “I know what it’s like being young”

“He is still young”, Mark returned with some drinks. Cans of coke. He passed them around. “Hyung turns 24 in a month”

“Well, I’m on another decade compared to you”, Johnny whined but even that was hot coming from his mouth. “Oh, to be a teenager again, like you two and Markie. Young and free”

“Mark is turning twenty this year”, Jaehyun said matter of factly and opened his can. Donghyuck had to remind himself that they were talking with the Western age system, which meant that Mark was twenty-one in Korea. So, a year older than Donghyuck. Funny, he didn’t seem like that at all. 

“How old are you two”, Jaehyun asked. He eyed Jaemin who was currently hugging something he had taken out of his wallet - ah, yes, his Twice photo cards. It wasn’t a surprise that he had been carrying them with him, since they were his pride and joy. Had that been the reason why he had been so nervous?

“Twenty”, Donghyuck answered. 

“Well, eighteen in the west”, Jaemin cleared. Johnny and Jaehyun nodded in unison but Mark looked thoughtful. Then, reality hit him.

“Wait, that means you’re younger than me!” He said. “You should call me hyung!”

There it was. Mister _I don’t really care that much since I wasn’t raised there_ was just as caught up in the Korean system as Donghyuck himself. Donghyuck snorted.

“Sure thing, Mark Lee”

Johnny and Jaehyun both laughed but the look in Mark’s eyes changed. His eyes narrowed and he looked at Donghyuck with an unreadable expression - was it a challenge, maybe? Mark eyed him with such intensity, Donghyuck held the gaze until the elder finally dropped it. The small blush on Mark’s cheeks had never faded away.

What was _that_ about?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know this one had a lot of dialogue in it. I just love writing dialogue, it's such a nice way to tell a story (and, I used to study dramaturgy in high school, I wrote screenplays there so maybe that is a remain from there, in my style. Maybe). 
> 
> Also, an announcement - I won't be posting in a while. I'm sorry, I really want to, but the deadline for my bachelor's thesis is on the 13th and I've been a massive procrastinator so OF COURSE, I'm screwed. I have to focus on it now so there won't be any updates before the 13th - if there is then I've been an IDIOT because I should be working on the thesis 24/7 now. Please be patient, I promise I'll be back right after, stronger than ever!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I'm back! I promised I wouldn't be, there are six days until I have to return my thesis but here I am doing everything but. (for my own defense I have to say that I had most of this written beforehand but still, I shouldn't be wasting any time on this right now. But it's just too much fun!)
> 
> I want to thank everyone who reads this, and especially the comments I got for the last chapter - they made me so happy and inspired! I hope you like the chapter, and to everyone currently struggling with your assignments, school work, regular work, anything - fighting! I know you can do it!

Chatting with Mark and his friends was fun. Johnny and Jaehyun were easy-going and goofy, joking around and making fun of Mark good-heartedly. Johnny especially babied Mark a lot, which was amusing. Mark was constantly red on his face, trying to push the elder away but obviously liking the attention.

All three of them were more or less Korean at heart. Jaehyun was the only one who had a dual citizenship but all of their parents were fully Korean. Jaehyun’s Korean was flawless since he had spent his early childhood in Seoul. Johnny and Mark had been raised to speak English so both of them had an accent in Korean, but it was very slight. How did Donghyuck know such details about them?

Because they talked A LOT. Jaemin and Donghyuck had ended up spending over two hours at their place and enjoying the company (and the snacks: Johnny seemed to have his kitchen cupboards filled with Lays and different overly sweet beverages) Despite being talkative, Mark’s friends asked a lot about them as well, and they seemed to be very interested in what they were doing in New York. Both Donghyuck and Jaemin felt comfortable and welcome there, so it was fun.

It was nearing five o’clock when they finally got out to the cold, windy street. 

“Now that I got my wallet back I really really really want to go to the ice cream museum”, Jaemin was holding his wallet against his chest like it was his baby. Well, that would wear off quickly, Donghyuck knew it would. Jaemin would lose half of his stuff again before they returned home.

“And I still really really really don’t care”

Jaemin stuck his tongue out and Donghyuck chuckled at that. Jaemin had his travel plan and Donghyuck had his own, they had come to NY together but they didn’t necessarily have to be together all the time. Jaemin, despite being loud and horny 24/7, actually liked going to museums a lot. He was interested in culture and history that Donghyuck did not care about at all. So, he could go have fun in the dusty museums, Donghyuck could use that time to go through the city to maybe find his father before next Christmas.

Because despite the few setbacks, he still strongly believed he would be able to do it. He wanted to find him, no matter what. And when had Donghyuck ever wanted something and not gotten it at the end?

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll go see that alone then!” Jaemin scoffed dramatically but Donghyuck knew that his feelings hadn’t really gotten hurt. “And I’ll go and hit on the handsome security guards and you’ll be so jealous”

“Don’t call me when they arrest you for misbehaving”

“Ohhh wouldn’t you want to see these beautiful wrists in handcuffs”

“Nah, I’ll pass”, Donghyuck chuckled. “Wanna have dinner together though?”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll find a place tonight”, Jaemin was already typing on his phone furiously. Knowing his lack of English skills and his flirty nature, Donghyuck was sure that he would have lots of stories to tell him by the night. He looked forward to it.

So, Jaemin went to the museum, and Donghyuck made his way back to their apartment. He cleaned the kitchen table off of the fast-food wrappers and Jaemin’s skincare products, and placed all his documents on it. There wasn't much, some small notes and the picture that Kyungsoo had let him keep. 

Baekhyun looked so young in it, but he had to be in his early twenties. He had been born in 1982, only a few years after Donghyuck’s adoptive parents. His adoptive parents had been so young when they had got him too, freshly married. They had been told that they would probably never conceive, by several doctors, so they had decided to adopt. It was quite funny, that only a few months after they had adopted Donghyuck, his mother had fallen pregnant with his sister. 

It was a miracle that he was a part of this family, but his younger siblings were miracles too. Even after his parents had gotten both of his younger sisters, they still showed an equal amount of affection to them all. Even though Donghyuck wasn't blood-related, they loved him as much as they did his sisters. In that way, Donghyuck had never felt like he needed more.

And now, he was desperately looking for someone who hadn't even raised him, who had never had a place in his life. Just a genetic parent. He had inherited his sass from his mother and his accent from his father - most things inherited were usually just personality traits picked up from the people who raised you anyway, it had nothing to do with the bloodline. 

Still. Donghyuck had always felt like something was missing. He couldn’t explain what, it wasn’t like he had been loved less or anything, but there was something. Maybe it was because he was adopted, or maybe it was something that everyone felt when they were growing up. He couldn't know for sure. 

But finding his omega father - And the alpha or beta responsible as well - Would give an answer to that. For sure. Donghyuck wanted to know who had given him his darker complex and light eyes, who he got his height and hair color from, what other things had he inherited that he couldn't name now, but would easily distinguish once he _did_ meet his father?

There were so many questions that only his biological parents knew the answer to. 

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Jaemin had sent the group chat a picture from the museum, having fun in the middle of pink… what was that? Some decorations, something to do with ice cream. He was flashing his toothy grin and a v-sign, something that made alphas swoon. And not only alphas but also

**_Jen 18:39  
_ ** _Ohh, so pretty!!!_

 **_Nana 18:39  
_ ** _I know, right?!  
_ _Ah man, I love ice cream_

Donghyuck shook his head and closed the chat. He decided to check his other unread messages as well. There wasn’t anything interesting there - His mom was asking him how he was, just like he did every day, and his youngest sister was whining in their family group chat for money again. Then, there were the chats with Kyungsoo and Jongdae, where he updated how his search was going. And under them, there was Mark Lee.

_01/01/2019_

**_Mark Lee 04:26  
_ ** _Hey, I hope you got inside safely!_

 **_Mark Lee 12:30  
_** _Hey, I hope you’re feeling better!  
_ _If you have a headache, I recommend buying Advil, it’s good for hangovers!_

Donghyuck had answered neither of the messages, but he had bought the medicine recommended from the nearest pharmacy - he didn’t want to destroy his liver any more than he already had and neither of them had packed any painkillers from Korea so the advice was useful. 

Mark seemed nice - when Donghyuck had read the messages, he had tjough that had seemed almost suspiciously nice. But, when Donghyuck had met him at Johnny’s, his opinion of the guy had changed a little. He was just a bit awkward, but he was definitely not dangerous, and most likely not texting Donghyuck because he wanted to get in his pants. It sucked that that was always what Donghyuck suspected first, but he had met way too many alphas and betas who were only nice to him because they wanted something from him. 

Many would like to use him as their gay experiment. Because he was an omega, so _it wasn’t really gay because someone needs to impregnate male omegas too._ Men and women together was yet another standard that male omegas didn’t fit either despite having been around for almost as long as everyone else. But the alphas and betas couldn’t help but be fascinated and interested in male omegas too, because biologically that was what they should be. In bright daylight, most didn’t do anything about their desires but in the shadows of the clubs… it was different.

Jaemin didn’t mind being an experiment - god knew he used the alphas just as much as they used him - but Donghyuck didn’t like being viewed that way. He used it to his advantage sometimes because what else was he supposed to do? Deep down he didn’t like that.

Anyway, Donghyuck started to believe that Mark was genuine. Donghyuck had to admit that he was a bit lost with his research, and didn’t know where to look next. Mark spoke both English and Korean, Donghyuck could use him as his translator. That wasn’t necessarily a call for help, more like recruiting a person to _work_ _for_ him. He could pay back with his wonderful company - that wasn’t even a salary, that was a _gift._

He stared at the number for a short while before he hit call.

...

“Alright, so, what do we know about him?”

He met Mark in a small coffee house just outside of Manhattan the next morning. Donghyuck had suggested going to a Starbucks but Mark had refused - _you’re in New York, I’ll let you see something more authentic._

The place they were currently at looked like some old rock bar. Old vinyl records were hanging on the naked brick walls and there were significantly fewer people there than in the busy chain cafes on the main island. He and Mark were sitting on old leather sofas at the corner, sipping overly sweet cocoas because neither of them like regular coffee. It was comfy, nice.

“Um, a name and birthday, the fact that he moved here ten years ago and that he used to sing in a small group around four years ago. Oh, and some old addresses but as you know, they led us nowhere”

“Woah, well, I can see why you’re stressed”, Mark admitted. Donghyuck kicked him - he knew that it was desperate. He had just hoped that maybe, just maybe, his life would be like a movie and a miracle would happen and he would just find his father like that. If it was meant to happen then it just would, right?

“Okay okay, don’t hurt me”, Mark placed his MacBook down on the table. He was taking notes like he was some sort of detective. He had a very serious look on his face too, as though this was his first real mission as the secretary of Sherlock Holmes or something. He was wearing an oversized hoodie and round classes, he had that smart student look on.

“Have you stalked him on Facebook? Instagram? Youtube?”

“Yeah, of course”, Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “Nothing. Or, he could have an account but then it’s not under his real name. I asked that of Jongdae, his friend from four years ago, but even he didn’t know”

“Hmm”, Mark took a sip of his cocoa through the twisted straw. He looked like a hamster as he puffed his cheeks and furrowed his brows deep in thought. Cute.

“You said he was a singer, right? I think that’s our best lead, we should start with that”

“I said that he _might_ be a singer”, Donghyuck corrected him. Singing hadn’t been the main source of income for CBX so it might not be for Baekhyun now either. He had had a constantly changing day job as well, he had moved a lot, who knew where he was working.

“Well, let’s just go with that, since the other strands haven’t taken you anywhere. How was he trained?”

“He dropped out of college”, Donghyuck said dryly. At first, he had thought that his father was so cool, but as he tried looking for him, this picture of him started wavering. Who didn’t have a social media account these days? He knew that his father was nearing his forties but come on, the boy dying his hair when it wasn’t allowed and wearing a shit ton of eyeliner in the early 2000s didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would just give up and get old like the rest of the masses.

He had moved to New York with no education, for heaven’s sake! Nothing about this guy was boring and normal. And even Donghyuck’s grandmother had a Facebook account now!

Jongdae’s words echoed in his mind - _he was scared, he had to hide._ Maybe it was because of that, he had been forced to delete all social media accounts as well. Baekhyun had been forced to hide because of some psycho. But if he was still hiding, then… how could Donghyuck ever find him?

“Well”, Mark tried his very best to stay positive. “My best bet, in that case, would be looking into bars. Many people start their careers by performing in bars and because he has done it before, he might have stayed on that path”

“There are like a million bars in New York”, and if he had been forced to hide, he might not even be in New York anymore.

“But not all of them are big enough to take performers.”, Mark pointed out. “I know it’s not going to be easy, and the chances are we won’t even find him like this. But we should try”

“Okay, you’re right”, the easy times were over. Donghyuck knew that very well. “So, what do we do?”

They started by looking through the homepages of several bars in New York. They went through the ones in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, many places that Mark knew the names of but Donghyuck forgot right away. And not all of them had home pages at all. Each one that did, they sent an email to, explaining their situation and asking for help. The ones that didn’t, Mark found on the map and wrote down. They agreed to go visit them all later, one neighborhood at a time.

They got many emails back saying sorry and wishing them luck on their mission. Quite a few of them came back so fast that Donghyuck doubted they had even bothered to check their past performers. That caused him so much frustration and he took it out on Mark by snapping at him easier, but the older man tolerated it scarily well. And he wasn’t an asshole about it when Donghyuck apologized - Donghyuck generally rarely apologized but he felt like he wanted to, to Mark. That was weird too.

When the bars opened their doors later at night, Donghyuck and Mark started their fieldwork. They could just walk into some of them, but in some places, they faced problems because they were obviously underage, and there was no Johnny hyung to let them in. Donghyuck was completely helpless most of the time and just had to watch as Mark explained the situation with his calm demeanor. Donghyuck tried to listen to what he said in hopes of picking up some words and learning, but it was so much more difficult than he had initially thought.

English was difficult. Nothing ever sounded the same, every letter was pronounced differently every time and the tones were just something Donghyuck couldn’t grasp. Mark made it sound cool as he was a native speaker, the difficult pronunciations flowing from his tongue so smoothly, Donghyuck would sometimes just get lost in listening to him although he didn’t understand a word. Donghyuck had grown up watching cool American films. And Mark was now speaking in that cool film language, with his nice voice.

That was most of the joy that Donghyuck got out of it. Mark, watching Mark, listening to Mark, making Mark pay for his lunch, making Mark mad because he didn’t use honorifics. Going through bars was a pain but at least he didn’t need to do it alone.

It took them a long time. Three days later they were still not any wiser, traveling across the city, looking for clues. Jaemin had checked multiple cool museums during that time and actually found people to hang out with. Donghyuck had good social skills but Jaemin was on another level, talking to people whose language he didn’t even speak properly, making friends easily. Donghyuck and Jaemin ate brunch together in the mornings, and from noon till late at night Mark joined Donghyuck to do fieldwork. At midnight, Donghyuck crawled to the bed next to Jaemin who smelled suspiciously much of a beta, but he didn’t say anything.

“This is getting old, my feet hurt”

“We still have quite a few places that we have to check, don’t lose hope yet”

“What if he isn’t in any of these bars? What then?”

Donghyuck was well aware that his whining didn’t help anyone and that it was unfair since Mark was only helping him because he just was that nice. But he was starting to get frustrated. 

They were sitting at McDonalds. Yeah, screw the New York authenticity, Donghyuck had been hungry and he had seen the heaven-sent golden yellow M in the sky, and rest was history. Mark was pouring ketchup on his fries (heathen) and Donghyuck was eating his Big Mac aggressively. 

“The next place that I would try is Chinatown”

“But I’m Korean”

“I know”, Mark rolled his eyes. “But Chinatown is a place where many Eastern Asian communities have been born. Maybe he’s homesick and wants to eat some ethnic food? Or if he wants to celebrate the Chinese new year? There are Korea towns here as well, let’s check them too”

“Jaemin and I already went to Koreatown though”

Donghyuck stole one of Mark’s scandalous fries and thought about it. Sure, it made sense. It was a stretch, but it made sense to look there. They would need quite a bit of luck to find this guy. 

A lot of luck actually.

“Maybe we could go again, to look just a bit deeper”, Mark answered. “I told Johnny and Jaehyun to spread the word too. I know it’s stereotypical to think that people who have the same nationality or ethnicity or whatever just flock together in foreign countries but… that happens. Look at the hyungs and me”

Yeah, Donghyuck had looked at them. A lot. He started following Johnny and Jaehyun on Instagram and _damn_ were they a joy to look at. Jaemin had drooled after them for a while too but it became evident soon enough that neither of them was actually _free._ Or, that was what Jaemin had found out. They didn’t have selfies with their significant others or anything, but Jaemin was a psychic. He always knew and he was always right.

Of course. All the best ones were either taken or their orientation didn’t match with yours. Donghyuck couldn’t say that they matched his personal type 100% but the thing was, some people were just everyone’s type. These two were exactly that. Their Instagrams were like model portfolios. Mark’s profile was much more down-to-earth and goofy, Donghyuck liked it more.

“How do you know them?” Donghyuck had been wondering that for a moment now. Johnny and Jaehyun were both older than Mark who was studying music in college. Johnny was a porter who took good care of the stupid underage omegas that he let in - it had indeed been Johnny who had borrowed Jaemin his jacket and kept an eye on him while finishing his shift. Jaehyun was studying performing arts and working as a model. With that face and body, it should be illegal to do anything but. Anyway, it was an odd mix of people, the only thing that connected them was their ethnicity - and maybe looks too. Mark was younger than them but he was good looking too, in his own cute and awkward way.

Wait, where were these thoughts coming from?

“I got to know Jaehyun in high school”, Mark answered, and ate a few of his disgusting fries. Donghyuck ate some too. Mark furrowed his brows at him but didn’t say anything.

“Ohh, was he your hot senior or something?” Donghyuck asked. 

“Um, you could say so”, Mark rubbed the back of his neck. He did that often. “He asked me to help him with his final music project after hearing some of my rap tracks and that’s how it all started I guess”

“Wait, does Jaehyun hyung rap?” That was unexpected. Donghyuck had heard Mark rapping on his Instagram videos, but he didn’t know Jaehyun had that in him.

“Um, he mainly sings”. _Of course, he did_. Donghyuck secretly despised people who were too perfect. It wasn’t like he had poor self-esteem - quite the opposite actually, he knew his worth - but a man with a face like that, body like that, voice like that which he _knew how to use_ as well? Did he even have a single undesirable quality?

“What about Johnny hyung? Is he a musical guy too?”

“Nah”, Mark shrugged. “He used to dance but now he’s just a porter who spends half of his life at the gym”

_Obviously._

“It’s been… what, almost four years since I’ve known them both?” Mark looked thoughtful. “And Johnny hasn’t changed a bit”

“Did he go to the same high school as well?”

“No, I got to know him when he started going out with Jaehyun”

Donghyuck stopped a french fry halfway on its way to his mouth. Wait, Johnny and Jaehyun were a thing? No wonder there were no details on their social media. How had he not sensed any sexual tension in the air though? Why hadn’t Jaemin said something? Did he know the details?

“I know, they don’t really act as though they were together”, Mark continued, having seen Donghyuck’s reaction. “They actually aren’t anymore, not really. Now they are more like… friends with benefits? They both realized that they’re somewhat polyamorous and didn’t want to tie themselves in a relationship. I know that’s not exactly how polyamory works but they just do it their own way. They’re really cool about it too”

“Gosh, does anyone do normal relationships anymore?”, Donghyuck snorted without thinking first. It probably sounded a lot worse to Mark than he had intended. He just… maybe he fooled around too but deep inside he didn’t like the way nothing seemed to mean anything in today’s dating world. No one wanted to commit to just one person, there were no promises given anymore because no one bothered keeping them. Donghyuck didn’t know if he wanted to engage in such a circus for very long. But what choice did he have, if he didn’t want to be alone?

Jaemin was happy, though. Maybe Donghyuck should just learn from him. Like he had with everything regarding his sexuality.

“Well, it’s a free country”, Mark just answered with a shrug. 

“Yeah”, Donghyuck nodded. Better move the conversation to another direction before he got sad or Mark misunderstood something. “You’re like the three hot Korean musketeers now, aren’t you? Johnny hyung, Jaehyun hyung and Mark”

“ _Hyung"_ , Mark sighed. “I have a Korean name too. It’s Minhyung, it already has the word hyung in it so if you could use-”

“Nah I prefer Mark”

“Of course you do”

Donghyuck laughed and ate a few more fries before Mark pulled his plate away from his reach for good. Disrespect of this level would have gotten him beaten in Korea - he knew from experience. But Mark never got actually mad at him so he could keep doing it. He just felt the irresistible _urge_ to keep bugging him. Mark’s reactions were always worth it.

Donghyuck liked annoying people in general, but usually, people weren’t nearly as entertaining as Mark. Renjun knew how to hit painfully despite not even having that much muscle, Jeno just took it all in and maybe rolled his eyes sometimes but never really minded that much. Jaemin was Jaemin and Yangyang was playful when he was there. Most of the time he wasn’t. The actual hyungs he had… Donghyuck would never disrespect Jungwoo, he didn’t deserve that at all. Dongyoung was a good one though because he would get so mad but he wouldn’t dare say anything when Jungwoo was nearby, so he just sat there, rage burning in his eyes, and the moment Jungwoo couldn't see he would be brutal - Jungwoo was Donghyuck’s life insurance.

Anyways, annoying Mark at a busy McDonalds in the middle of the night was an okay way to spend a night. Especially when he had paid for the food because Donghyuck had “forgotten” his credit card in his apartment.

Maybe they could end their fieldwork at that for the day. It was nearing midnight, Donghyuck was tired and annoyed and they still had so many places to check, they wouldn’t be done tonight anyway.

“We should go check the South Korean embassy, maybe they could help us”, Mark said after a while of quiet eating. “If Baekhyun really is here, they should know”

“Mmh”, Donghyuck drunk the last of his coca-cola. The official places were something he hadn’t gone to because he knew that they didn’t have enough information to prove that he was a close relative. Donghyuck didn’t even have an official birth certificate to use as proof of their consanguinity. He didn’t know if that would be enough either, but his word definitely wasn’t. The officials couldn't hand information to just anyone.

“And immigrant office”, Mark continued. “There are so many places that we could still check. Don’t lose your hope!”

Losing hope? Who, Donghyuck? He would never! He dipped his burger into the leftover mayo he hadn’t eaten with his fries - yes, disgusting, but Donghyuck was craving everything greasy now. It must be the lack of sleep and American atmosphere - and stuffed it into his mouth. 

He still had lots of time and energy left. It would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY, NOW I'M DEAD SERIOUS - NO UPDATES BEFORE 13TH OF MAY! But once I am done with my thesis, I'll be much more frequent with the updates so... look forward to it? Stay awesome everyone!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again everyone! Long time no see!
> 
> I finished my thesis and returned it 15 minutes before the deadline, then I had a very important exam that I had forgotten about so it went obviously quite badly and then… I ate chocolate and watched Ateez Treasure Film. And I bought the Super M mini album to treat myself (I got a Kai photo card! Yayyy I love Kai!) That’s why this chapter is kinda late, sorry. But here I am again!
> 
> This particular chapter was a real pain to write but it's done now, it's here. I hope you like it!

The visit to the embassy was a failure. Of course, it was, Donghyuck had kind of been expecting it, but Mark had been disappointed. Oh well, getting rejections and useless answers was starting to become the norm, Donghyuck didn’t even get disappointed anymore.

They just had to be consistent. If the guy was still there, they would find him no matter what. Or, that was what he wanted to believe. 

Donghyuck's mood was constantly changing. From optimistic to pessimistic to realistic to depressed - _I’m sure we will find him tomorrow, I’m sure he’s dead, I want to go home, I’m not leaving before I find him…_ It was annoying. It must be the stress of being in a foreign country that kept playing with his mind.

“Let’s start checking fast food restaurants next. And maybe cafes? There’s a handful of jobs he could do if he doesn’t have a degree. You said that his day job kept changing constantly - That actually makes it easier for us to find him since he’s been to multiple places. The odds are in our favor”

“Mmh, you may be right”, Donghyuck answered and took a sip of his drink. The sea was gray, the sky as well, New York in winter seemed to be not 50 but 5000 different shades of gray stacked on top of each other. It had rained the night before so the asphalt provided them some variety, a few shades of light brown in puddles joined the colorless atmosphere.

Or, not colorless. _All shades of gray._

It was the eighth of January, Tuesday. Mark had to return to college, but that only meant that he was out of the game in the mornings when he had to attend classes on campus. He had assured Donghyuck that it was okay though, that since the period was only starting, he didn’t have much to do afterwards. Donghyuck had never been to American college so he couldn’t argue with that. Waiting for his own results was nerve-racking so he pushed it to the very back of his mind and refused to think about college altogether. 

Mark being back to college was the reason why they were by the shore though. His campus was located near the Upper Bay, where the rivers surrounding Manhattan connected to the ocean, so Donghyuck and Mark had agreed on meeting in the Liberty state park. It was a nice place, they could see the Statue of Liberty there which was very cool. Donghyuck could imagine it being pretty in spring. Now, it was just empty. He could feel the cold winds in his bones, blowing far from the Atlantic ocean. 

He had never seen the Atlantic Ocean before. He had been to Thailand with his parents when he had been a kid so technically he had seen both the Indian and the Pacific Ocean before. So, now he had seen all three oceans of the world. Yay, water. Jeno would be jealous though - he had a bucket list for the stupidest things and one of his plans was to visit the shores of all big oceans. 

He also had the classic ‘fall in love’, ‘get married’, and ‘adopt ten cats’ there. Donghyuck had made fun of him for it so much back when they had barely been teenagers, Jaemin had actually been the one who had hit him and told him to stop. That had been the time when he had learned of Jeno’s way of smiling through everything despite being hurt inside.

He never stopped teasing Jeno, but he picked his targets more carefully. The bucket list was too precious for the beta for Donghyuck to make fun of. Almost everything else was okay because he was Jeno’s oldest friend.

“So, where should we start? Have you made a list already?” Donghyuck asked. It wasn’t stupid to expect that from him - Mark had been so excited to play a detective, he had taken it upon himself to plan their fieldwork. Donghyuck found it a bit odd but he didn’t mind it. It meant less boring work for him.

“Yeah”, Mark nodded and took a sip of his Starbucks that Donghyuck had brought with him, like the great friend that he was now. It was some overly sugary coffee that Mark liked - the only type of coffee he could drink didn’t taste like coffee at all. But Donghyuck had really wanted to go to Starbucks.

He looked at his own drink. It read Donghook in it - Dong. Hook. Oh well, the barista had been kind of close. He would have been more surprised if she had gotten it right.

Mark had chuckled upon seeing it and said he was Captain Dong Hook now. It hadn’t been funny at all.

“We have to choose where to start though. Maybe we should send some emails too, I didn’t want to do that without you”, Mark continued as they made their way back to the streets, between the buildings where the wind would hopefully not be as brutal. There were fewer puddles there but more colors, the artificial colors that humans had colored their shops with. They walked mindlessly for a while, trying to come up with good ideas. Donghyuck wasn’t looking forward to another round of walking from place to place and standing by the doorway, looking cute and innocent while Mark talked with the staff. But it couldn’t be helped.

Something unexpected changed their immediate plans though. Donghyuck saw the car in the corner of his eye, but he didn’t realize what was happening before it was very close to them. A red car - Donghyuck couldn’t tell the model or brand because he wasn’t _boring_ like, for example, Jisung - sped up, right when he and Mark were walking next to a particularly big puddle and _woosh_ \- the car splashed the whole puddle on top of them.

Donghyuck froze. The water hit him with such force, he even got some of it on his neck. His jacket, his hoodie that had been on display under the opened jacket - yeah, he had been cold but come on, fashion came first - and his jeans were all now covered in dirty puddle water.

Great. This was just what he had needed.

“Ah shit”, Mark’s curse came straight from his soul as he brushed his wet hands against his thighs. It was cold, windy, and the water had hit Mark even worse. The elder was soaked in the water.

“What an _asshole!”_ Donghyuck yelled the last word. Now what? The apartment was so far away, he would get sick before getting there. He didn't have time to be sick! He whined loudly as he hid his hands inside his sleeves, trying to warm them up so that at least a part of him would stay warm. The cold wind decided that it was the right time to blow straight at them, making them both shiver.

That was the worst. The idiot had done it on purpose.

“We have to change. You’ll get sick”, Mark stated the obvious. Donghyuck nodded, and blew into his palms - it had been supposed to rain today, but not like this.

“Come on”, Mark grabbed his arm. “Let’s go visit my dorm"

…

Donghyuck had only ever been to a university campus once before in his life: a few weeks after his CSAT’s when he had taken the aptitude tests for his desired field. Because obviously, slaving away for CSAT’s wasn’t enough already.

Mark’s university campus was very different from the one he had visited back in Korea. This one was scattered over a huge area, in many parts of the city, and the architecture was beautiful. Old, but very nice. There were trees between the buildings, and some even had plants growing on the walls. Once again, Donghyuck could imagine it being very beautiful in spring.

Mark led him straight to his dorm building though. No detours, just quickly to warmth and safety. Donghyuck didn’t complain.

There was someone in Mark’s dorm room when they entered. Mark had mentioned a roommate so Donghyuck wasn’t really that surprised. However, the roommate in question did look like he was currently looking at an alien as he locked eyes with Donghyuck. His eyebrows were lost in his fringe as he stared at them. He was lying on his bed (fully clothed), a laptop on his stomach.

Donghyuck ran a hand through his hair. Was there something on his face? Or maybe it was just the muddy water.

“Ohh hello there”, the boy, man, whatever people should be called when they were in their twenties, said and sat up, closing the laptop in the process. His face softened a bit but his expression remained surprised.

“Kevin, this is Donghyuck, Donghyuck this is Kevin. We came to grab a new set of clothes after some asshole driver showered us in rainwater - we won’t take long”

Mark said and walked straight to his closet. Kevin waved at Donghyuck and he returned it, before moving to sit on the other bed of the room, not wanting to stay by the doorway awkwardly. The man, Kevin, eyed him for a few seconds longer before turning to look at Mark.

“Ahh, were you at the Liberty State Park?" he asked. Mark nodded, currently in the process of emptying his closet on the floor. 

“Of course”

“Ah, such bad luck”, it seemed like the two older guys knew something that Donghyuck didn’t. Was it often that college students were splashed in the nearby park or something?

“Anyway”, Kevin stood up with his computer tucked under his arm. “I think I’ll go see what Jacob is up to, so you can take _as long as you want_. It was nice meeting you Donghyuck!” 

“Um, likewise”, that was everything Donghyuck said to the guy. Because then, Kevin picked his key card from the table and walked out, closing the door gently after him. Mark didn’t even bat an eye, currently smelling one of his hoodies that he had pulled from the closet. However, Donghyuck smelled a weird mix of awkwardness and uneasiness in the air.

“What was _that_ about?” Donghyuck wondered out loud. Mark had clearly made a decision for his hoodie. This one was bright red. For a guy who seemed to be quite a wallflower, he sure as hell dressed like he wanted attention. Maybe it was just his alpha nature.

Agh, Donghyuck should stop expecting sub genders to be behind every move. Gosh. _Be the change you want to see in the world_ \- yeah he should work on that.

“Nah, that’s just Kevin”, that didn’t explain anything at all. But before Donghyuck could question further, Mark decided that it was the right moment to pull off his hoodie and reveal that he was wearing _nothing_ underneath. Donghyuck took one look at his lean stomach and chest before turning to look the other way quickly. He didn’t want to get caught staring.

Not like Mark would have anything he would stare at anyway, it was just that Donghyuck didn’t want him to _think_ that he did. Of course. _How to deal with alphas, rule number one:_ _Never stroke their ego. Ever._

As he was looking the other way, he finally took a proper look at the dorm room. It wasn’t very big, and at first glance, it didn't look like there was much to see at all: there were two beds on either side of the room, a few shelves nailed to the wall above the beds, and at the end of the room there was a desk and a big window. Also, there were the two big closets that Mark was currently rummaging through.  
  
Simple, cheap-looking, just like Donghyuck would imagine college students having. However, the room had been decorated, and there were lots of details that caught Donghyuck's attention.  
  
The biggest theme of the room seemed to be Canada. There was a flag of Canada on Mark’s side of the room and some postcards on the walls that read _Vancouver_ on them. Big posters of lakes and spruce forests and mountains. Even the curtains in front of the window had maple leaves on them. There were small travel souvenirs placed on the shelves next to textbooks and at the end of the table, and most of them were Canada themed.  
  
Um. Okay? 

There were also pictures here and there. On Kevin's side, there were dozens of polaroid pictures taped on the wall, of him and his friends and maybe his family as well? They were all placed in odd arrangements next to a huge Beyonce poster.  
  
On Mark's side, on the shelf, there were only two framed pictures. One of Mark and his parents, maybe? Mark was much younger in it, maybe ten or so years old, and there was a man and a woman on either side of him. And then, there was a picture of him and Johnny and Jaehyun, all of them barely younger than they were now, smiling widely. Mark was holding a huge watermelon in the picture, looking happier than he ever had before.  
  
"Here, try if it fits" Donghyuck turned around and took the hoodie that Mark was offering him. It was dark green, not Donghyuck's go-to color but he didn't complain - it was nice enough of Mark to loan _any_ clothes to him.  
  
Donghyuck had been intelligent enough to wear a t-shirt underneath - the winds in New York were goddamn cold - so he pulled his wet hoodie off and changed into the green one. It was thick and soft and smelled like Mark. In any other circumstances, he would have complained about being given used clothes but judging by the pile of clothes that Mark had pulled out of his closet, this was the best option he had. Also, the smell was... Kind of nice. 

Mark also gave him gray sweatpants - did he even own anything other than gray sweats and black jeans? - and he changed into them quickly as well. When he was done, Mark came to sit next to him on the bed. He had grabbed his MacBook that he apparently kept in his closet, and he started scrolling through his notes.

"Do you want to go through the plan now that we’re already inside?” Mark asked, clearly having made that decision already. Their original plan was to meet at the park and discuss it through there, but this was good too. Much more comfortable. Donghyuck crossed his legs comfortably.

“Sure”

Mark had indeed made a very detailed map of the places they could visit. His dedication was admirable, Donghyuck felt like he should step up his own game. 

In the middle of staring at the map, they could hear rain start outside. Cold, midwinter rain that was almost sleet. It hit the windowsill, creating a very gloomy atmosphere in the quiet room. So, by the time they were done… Donghyuck was not in a rush to get back there, outside, in the coldness.

“Why is there a flag of Canada on your wall?” Donghyuck asked as Mark closed the MacBook. The older glanced at the flag, and then back at Donghyuck.

“Oh, that’s because I’m Canadian”

“What?” 

“Didn’t I tell you?” Mark scratched the back of his neck. “I was born and raised in Canada, and so was Kevin. We were roomed together by chance and found out, it was funny”

Donghyuck nodded. It wasn’t like Mark being Canadian rather than American changed anything between them. However, it felt a bit weird, to learn something so important so… late? 

It wasn’t late, for god’s sake! They had known each other for, what, less than two weeks now. But to Donghyuck it felt like they already had a bond, a friendship. He could annoy Mark without the older getting too mad, he could read him easily and he knew what kind of coffee he liked (very sweet and mild) and how he dressed and behaved.

But if he had missed something this important then… he didn’t know the guy at all!

“This”, Mark gestured to the decorations. “Is all Kevin’s doing though. He’s homesick, I don’t know how this helps but yeah anyway I wasn’t against it. This is the unofficial Canada room of the dormitory”

Donghyuck couldn’t imagine living away from his home country, and how he would deal with homesickness. He would probably force his mom to send him tons of kimchi weekly - he was already missing the food - but would the flag of Korea ease the feeling? Nah, Donghyuck didn’t even remember the right order of the black lines around the yin and yang, he doubted it would make his homesickness any more bearable.

But people were different.

“And you’re not homesick?” He asked instead of dissing Kevin’s methods or reducing his yearning.

“Nah”, Mark shook his head and stood up to take his Macbook on the desk, to charge it. “I’ve been here since high school, I guess I’ve kind of grown out of it already”

Ah, Donghyuck remembered him mentioning it before. Mark parted the curtains a bit to see what was going on outside, but all they could see was grayness and rain that was getting heavier by the minute. 

“You never told me your story”, Donghyuck pointed out as Mark let go or the curtain and let it fall back to cover the window. Donghyuck had probably told everything to Mark as they had walked around the city, out of boredom but also because he liked talking about himself. He told stories about his sisters, his friends, his interests, everything. But he didn’t know much about Mark’s past. 

“I don’t think there’s much to tell”, Mark admitted and sat back on the bed. Donghyuck was leaning against the wall and Mark was sitting on the edge, there was pretty much space between them but it still felt weirdly intimate. Close. The only light in the room came from the window, the small gap between the dark red curtains. It wasn’t dark enough to turn on artificial lights, but it wasn’t exactly bright either. A weird in-between state.

The feeling of this being against the rules sent a small flock of butterflies off in Donghyuck’s stomach as well. Mark had said before that girls and boys were strictly forbidded from visiting each other's dorms - in this setting, Donghyuck was not allowed to enter the alpha/beta male dorms. The guards keeping an eye on the security cameras wouldn't be able to tell that he was a male omega, but he himself knew that he wasn't allowed there. 

Mark was an alpha. An omega should never venture to the alpha dorm. Male alphas and betas were usually roomed together to ease the tensions (young alphas tended to fight together) but male omegas were never mixed with them. They belonged with the girls or just separated entirely. 

Yet there he was. Donghyuck usually got a kick from breaking the rules - that was why he had been in trouble during middle and high school, but way less than he should have because he was rarely caught - but now it felt different somehow. He kept looking at Mark who was, in turn, fiddling with his hands, thinking of what to say.

“Just…”, Donghyuck started, not wanting the older to feel uncomfortable. “How did you end up here? You already know my story, but you never told me yours”

“Well, it’s quite simple”, Mark sighed. “I… I always dreamed of becoming a musician. I told you about it, remember? Well, when I was in middle school, I applied for a good program, a special high school in New York, despite me and my family living in Vancouver at the time. And I got in.

My parents didn’t want me to come, of course. I was only 13 at the time. We fought so much until finally, they just gave up. I moved here, on my own, at the age of fourteen and have been living here ever since”

Donghyuck listened quietly. That sounded hard. Mark must have been really set on the dream if he was still on the same path, living so far away from his family and the world he had known. At least Canada and the US both had English as their main language, but moving to a foreign country at such a young age must have been hard.

“As I said, I met Jaehyun in high school”, Mark continued. “I had been in school for a year already when he found me. I had been focusing fully on school and looking for a part-time job to finance my student housing. I didn’t even have any friends before him. He took me under his wing and helped me in so many ways, I will always be thankful”

Donghyuck nodded. Jaehyun must be a good friend. He seemed like a good guy, and so did Johnny. Donghyuck could only imagine a baby Mark in the picture with his parents, sans any friends and family in the States - even he would get an urge to take care of him, to provide for him and look after him. He didn’t wonder at all anymore, why Johnny and Jaehyun seemed so fond of him.

“Do you keep in touch with your parents?” He asked.

“Not much”, Mark answered. “We never were the closest of families and me moving away didn’t make it any better. My dad is still a bit angry at me for being such a brat. But I don’t really need them anymore. I have the hyungs”

“And me”, Donghyuck blurted out before he could think. “Now you have me, too”

Mark looked at him, his expression only a bit too sad for it to go unnoticed to Donghyuck - yeah, he had Donghyuck now, but… Donghyuck was leaving as well.

They shouldn’t become friends when the expiration date of their relationship was so close.

But didn’t that mean they _should_ be good friends, now? If they only had very little time, then they should make the most out of it! This trip was long past only finding his father - Donghyuck wanted to know Mark inside and out too, he wanted to explore the city with him and he wanted to share good moments together. As many as he could.

“I guess I do”, the elder said softly, after a while.

Donghyuck looked around - they needed a distraction, quickly. He spotted something - a guitar case, leaning against the foot of the bed. Perfect!

“Can you play the guitar?” He pointed at the case. A beautiful smile bread on Mark’s face.

“Yeah”. He was obviously happy about the subject change as well, as he reached for the case and pulled out a light-colored guitar. “Do you have something in mind?”

Donghyuck thought for a moment when the older placed the guitar comfortably on his thighs. Mark tried a few chords for warm-up, and Donghyuck knew what he wanted.

“Play Billionaire”

…

The rain, as well as their impromptu music session, lasted for a long time. Neither of them paid any attention to the time, the constantly falling rain dulled the ticking of the clock, as they played a song after song after song. They harmonized together, Mark tried doing the raps and Donghyuck googled the chords for him when he couldn’t remember them. It was fun, relaxing, like they were in their own little universe, in a bubble, while the rain counted the rhythm.

They only realized how much time had passed, when Kevin came back.

“Oh, you’re still here”, the beta said, sounding surprised but not nearly as much as when he had seen them the first time. “Don’t mind me, I just came to get my card, I’ll eat dinner with Jacob and the boys”

“Is it that late already?” Mark wondered out loud and Donghyuck dug his phone from his pocket. It was nearing seven o’clock.

And they had done nothing productive that day.

“Shit”, he cursed and got up. Both Mark and Kevin turned to look at him, brows raised, but he didn’t care. “I should get going”

“Let me take you to the metro”, Mark said and laid the guitar on the bed.

Walking Donghyuck to the metro station was something he always did. It had become a habit after the very first day of search - Mark felt uneasy letting Donghyuck walk alone at night and frankly, Donghyuck didn’t like doing that either. There were all sorts of creeps outside when it got dark, and Donghyuck, being a male omega and rather conspicuous at that being so obviously a foreigner, was one of the favorite targets of those people. Catcalling, he could deal with, but anything else… he’d rather not face it at all. Mark was an alpha, his presence alone would keep most of the creeps further away.

So, that was what they did this time around too. Or what they were trying to do before Donghyuck’s phone started ringing when they were barely out of the campus area.

It was Jaemin.

“Um, hello?”

_“Aaaaa Donghyuckie hello!”_

Donghyuck furrowed his brows - Jaemin sounded way too cheerful to _not_ be intoxicated. He and Mark shared a look and he knew that Mark could hear it too, despite not having known Jaemin for as long. Donghyuck took a deep breath.

“Is something wrong, Jaemin?”

_“No, actually it’s never been bet- ah, not now, I’m on the phone - eek Donghyuck I’m hungry come eat with us!”_

Um, no thanks. If he was sober, he wouldn’t stand drunk Jaemin longer than five minutes max. But, he knew that leaving Jaemin at his own devices would be rude and possibly dangerous. This wasn’t their hometown - and even if it was, Seoul wasn’t exactly safe for a wilding young omega either. 

“Send me your location, I’ll come”, Donghyuck sighed. There was some fuzzing on the other end of the line as Jaemin tried his best and against all odds managed to send it. He was located in Southern Manhattan, in a Chinese restaurant. Donghyuck closed the phone call and took a deep breath.

Mark eyed him.

“Want me to come with you?”

“Please”

…

“Lee Donghyuck!” Jaemin yelled the moment they stepped in, 30 minutes later. The other customers - that there weren’t that many of, thank god - shot him an annoyed glance but Jaemin didn’t seem to care about that at all. He wasn’t alone in his table - someone was sitting there with him. A young man, obviously with Eastern Asian genes as well. Donghyuck and Mark rushed to the table they were at, to make Jaemin's yelling stop.

“Hey hey hey we’re here, what’s going on?” Donghyuck asked as Jaemin reached out to kiss his cheek messily. He was halfway sitting on top of the other guy, so when he was done licking Donghyuck’s cheek, he and Mark made their way to the other side of the table.

“I wanted you to meet him”, he gestured at the guy sitting with him. “Say hi to Son Eric!”

“Hi Eric”, Donghyuck repeated and Mark nodded at the guy. Donghyuck removed his jacket and took a better look at the boy - he was young, most likely their age or even younger. There was a certain feeling of familiarity that Donghyuck got when looking at him, but he couldn’t exactly place it. Eric waved and smiled at them a bit awkwardly, looking a tiny bit apologetic as Jaemin wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

As he should be.

“Hi”

“We met at the American Museum of Natural History”, Jaemin pronounced it very slowly and with Eric’s help. “And Eric knows so much about dinosaurs and reptiles!”

“I guess I do”, Eric chuckled awkwardly and leaned closer to Donghyuck and Mark. “Listen, he only drunk three beers in the park before coming here, I don’t know why he is so drunk”

“That’s Jaemin for you”, Donghyuck chuckled, happy that his friend seemed to be alright. “He is a lightweight and a noisy drunk”

“Yeah, apparently”, Eric stole a glance at Jaemin who was currently trying very hard to type on his phone. “But anyway, it’s nice to meet you! And I’m glad you could join us - Jaemin ordered _a lot_ of stuff”

 _A lot_ seemed to be an understatement. Because once the waitresses started bringing food, it just kept on coming and coming and coming. Thank god Jaemin had a shit ton of money because Donghyuck knew that the night was going to be expensive. 

But it was, surprisingly, not bad at all. Three beers meant that Jaemin would sober up in a few hours if given a good amount of water and food, and while he was doing so, he had to be entertained so that he didn’t fall into melancholy. They shared different dishes and talked, Jaemin and Eric shared some stories of what they had been doing the past few days after they had met at the museum - Eric made sure to cover Jaemin’s mouth when he started sharing information about some of their activities a bit too generously. But Donghyuck knew now who the beta smell constantly lingering on Jaemin belonged to. 

Jaemin had a holiday affair going on, so what? Eric knew what he was getting into, Donghyuck knew that Jaemin never led people on, because he didn’t want to hurt anyone intentionally. Eric seemed like a funny guy, like someone who could handle that. Donghyuck was not worried about either of them.

Eric had grown up in Los Angeles before coming to New York so he had a lot of stories to share from the West Coast, and he was entertaining. He and Mark got along well, Donghyuck enjoyed his black bean noodles to the fullest while listening to their chatter. 

Donghyuck’s eyes constantly went to Eric’s face though. And not because he looked weird or anything, but because he looked familiar. So familiar. Donghyuck knew for sure that he had never met the guy before. But, he looked familiar. Like… someone he knew.

Once Donghyuck had figured it out... he didn't know what to think about either of them anymore.

And Jaemin sobered, little by little. By the time the waitresses brought the fortune cookies and the bill to the table, the younger had cleared his head and had calmed down a lot. He furrowed his brows at the bill but paid it without saying a word. Mark offered to pay his share but Jaemin turned him down immediately. He had been the one who had invited them along, he didn’t mind paying.

Because it wasn’t his money in the first place. Being born into a wealthy family, Jaemin liked treating people around him who hadn't.

“What does your fortune cookie say?” Jaemin asked Eric. The youngest of the table - Eric had been born in December of 2000 so he was the same age as most of them - opened the folded paper hidden inside his cookie.

 _“A good way to stay healthy is to eat more Chinese food”_ , he read out loud. “Since when have fortune cookies been advertisements?”

Jaemin shrugged. 

“It is right though”, he said. “Translate this for me, I don’t understand it”

“It says: _You already know the answer to the questions lingering inside your heart_ ”

Jaemin listened to him with wide eyes. If someone believed in such stupid things, it was Jaemin. Donghyuck rolled his eyes and broke his cookie open as well.

“What did you get?” Mark asked him, as Jaemin and Eric were still fussing over what Jaemin’s message could mean. Donghyuck glanced at the older and handed him his paper, not even bothering to look at it because he knew he wouldn’t understand it anyway. They were written on the paper in both English and Chinese and Donghyuck had skipped both of those subjects regularly.

“What was yours?” He asked as Mark eyed the paper he had given him. 

“Just some cliche about taking the most out of the present. Carpe diem and so on”, he muttered. “But this one is… I mean, it’s a cliche but it’s fitting”

“What is it?” It wasn’t like Donghyuck cared about such things as fortune cookies, but… maybe he did, after all, just a little. 

“It says”, Mark started. _“You’ll soon meet someone you’ve been waiting for all your life.”_

...

  
  


When they exited the restaurant, Mark asked one more time if it was alright for them to walk alone, and if he should walk them to the station. They declined - Donghyuck might be a bit scared alone but with Jaemin, he would be alright. They brought safety to each other, no one could harm them when they were together. So, they said goodbye and started walking towards the station.

“So”, Jaemin started with his sugared voice and wrapped his arm around Donghyuck’s. “You spent the _whole day_ with Mark in his dorm room”

“A few hours, yeah”, Donghyuck answered. He knew exactly what Jaemin was implying. “Don’t look at me that way, nothing happened!”

“ _Nothing_ , you say”, Jaemin pulled Donghyuck’s sleeve pointedly. “That hoodie isn’t yours”

“A car splashed us, he offered me clothes to change into. That was the reason we were there in the first place!”

“Whatever you say~”

Donghyuck rolled his eyes.

“I’m not like you, I don’t jump every alpha I see”

That obviously sounded offensive, but to Jaemin and him it wasn’t that deep.

“I don’t jump every alpha I see!” Jaemin protested. “I haven’t slept with… I haven’t slept with Renjun!”

“And that is only because he wouldn’t let you”, Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “You’re hopeless”

“I’m just having the most fun”, Jaemin winked at him as they stopped at traffic lights. Donghyuck huffed - Jaemin was in his own league, indeed. Donghyuck shouldn’t be surprised at all that he had gotten himself a cute holiday affair. However, there was something that had caught Donghyuck’s attention in his partner of choice this time.

“So”, he started when the light turned green. “This _Eric..."_

“What about him?” Jaemin asked, still holding Donghyuck’s arm tightly. 

“He _reeeeeeally_ reminds me of someone that I, _we,_ know.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”

_Bingo._

Jaemin answered way too fast, and when Donghyuck glanced at him, he could see some red spread on his cheeks.

“ _Oh, really?_ ”, it was his turn to use the sugary tone. “That skin tone, the jaw, the high cheeks… And he is a beta too, what a _coincidence_ ”

“Donghyuck, _stop_ ”, Jaemin whined and pulled his hand. Donghyuck laughed loudly. A few people turned to look at them because he was causing such noise but he couldn’t not. “It’s not like that! It has nothing to do with Jeno!”

“Who said anything about Jeno?” Donghyuck raised his brows. Jaemin’s cheeks were definitely flushed now.

“I hate you Lee Donghyuck, oh my _GOD”_

“Whatever you say Jaemin, whatever you say”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dare you, go google Eric from The Boyz and tell me he doesn’t remind you of Jeno. I thought of Jeno the moment I saw him the first time, I decided to give him a small role in this story because of that exact reason - if you think differently then… Just imagine Eric as someone who does resemble him, then.
> 
> Also, I didn’t want to leave Mark’s roommate nameless so I chose him from the same group as Eric, just so that I don’t end up using 50 000 different groups in one story. And, Kevin fit in perfectly so there you go. If you don’t know The Boyz then… don’t worry, you’ll manage, they’re just small side characters.
> 
> Not an interesting fact at all:  
> I was a fan of The Boyz before they debuted. When they hadn’t released anything except for their short introduction videos on Youtube - I kind of fell in love with them right away. Once they did debut I ended up not really liking their music (it’s not bad, just not my cup of tea) but some members, especially the Canada bros Kevin and Jacob are still close to my heart. Kevin Moon is one of the funniest kpop idols today let me tell you, I love him so much so here, I threw him into the story because I CAN and I WANTED TO. Also, he’s from Vancouver just like Mark so…


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 100 kudos guys are you kidding me???!?!?!?! Thank you so much!!! I can’t believe so many people have read this story, oh my god, I was so happy that I tried to get this chapter done as soon and well as possible! I hope you like it~
> 
> WARNINGS: Lots of possibly triggering things (such as rape, human trafficking, and so on) are mentioned, but ONLY mentioned very briefly so it should be okay. I'm just being extra careful here.

On January 12th Donghyuck woke up to loud car honking.

“Aaaa make it stop”, Jaemin mumbled half-asleep behind Donghyuck, where he was currently spooning him. Jaemin liked being the big spoon, and despite Donghyuck’s protests the night before (Jaemin _reeked_ of Eric and Donghyuck couldn’t stand the smell) he had wrapped his arms around him eventually. Breaking free from his grip was much easier now when Jaemin was too sleepy to care.

What could Donghyuck even do to some random car honking on the street? Nothing, but at least he could dull the noise a bit by closing the window that Jaemin had forgotten open the night before. That was the stupidest thing ever - now they would both get sick. Donghyuck could feel it already, the effects of sleeping with a window open. He had a slight headache building behind his eyes and his body felt like it weighed a ton. New York might be warmer than Seoul but it was the middle of the coldest winter, for god’s sake!

Donghyuck looked out of the window to see what was going on. And yeah, right there in the alleyway, there was a car honking like it was the last day of the football championships. Donghyuck rolled his eyes, but before he managed to close the window, someone pushed their head out the car window.

It was Johnny.

“Ya, I managed to wake you up after all!” He yelled, smiling brightly at Donghyuck. The apartment was only a few floors up from the ground so he could clearly see the older, and hear him too. The honking stopped, thank god.

“What the fuck hyung?!” He could have been nicer but this was not a very nice way to wake anyone up. “You woke up the whole neighborhood!”

“Sorry, I told him not to do it!” Mark got up from the passenger seat and waved at Donghyuck. 

“But we didn’t know the door code so we couldn’t come in either”, Johnny argued. “It’s eleven o’clock, it’s people’s own fault if they still sleep!”

“Hyuckie what is it?” Jaemin’s voice came from behind him. The younger had followed him to the window, still wrapped in the blanket, and he hugged Donghyuck lightly from behind as he looked out too.

“We’re going to check the theatres today, right? I asked Johnny hyung for help since he has the morning off”. Mark explained. “Oh, hi Jaemin!”

“Hi, hyungs!”

“You could have called me first”, Donghyuck rolled his eyes.

“I did, but you didn’t pick up!”

“Well, that usually means that people are _occupied_ ”, he had been sleeping, gosh.

“Don’t bite the hand that feeds you”, Jaemin whispered to Donghyuck’s ear and Donghyuck straightened up. Right, he was right. Mark and Johnny were helping him voluntarily, he should not annoy them too much because without their kindness he would be completely lost. So, he forced a smile on his face and yelled:

“But thanks for coming, anyway! Just give me… ten minutes and I’ll be out, okay?”

“Sure, take your time”, Johnny grinned, and Donghyuck closed the window.

…

Donghyuck and Mark had walked through a bunch of fast-food restaurants and cafes the previous days, and the next one on the list was amateur theatres - Jongdae had recommended that to him because he knew that Baekhyun had had some interest in acting as well. So, that had been their plan for the day: to check through some theatres around the city. Johnny hadn’t originally been included in the plan, but his help was more than welcome. This way, they could check places that were a bit further from the main city and the subway line.

There was loud rap music with a heavy bass blasting from the speakers when Donghyuck joined them in the car. Johnny turned it down a bit upon his arrival, but it was still much louder than it had to be. Donghyuck got on the back and they started driving.

“We already made a plan while waiting”, Mark turned around to talk to him. “I hope you don’t mind”

“Of course I don’t mind. Thank you”

They decided to start from the outskirts of the town. Donghyuck looked out the window fascinated - New York looked so different from the car window than it did when he spent most of his time moving underground. Donghyuck had imagined his trip being much more epic, rather than just walking back and forth and waiting. Oh, well. Most things in life were different from what people imagined them being, anyway.

He had certainly not expected to spend a good part of his trip with some _alphas_ that he had met there. The two in question were currently rapping along to some American songs way too loudly and enthusiastically. Should Donghyuck fear for his life? Nah no, Johnny drove softly, they would be alright.

“Hey Donghyuck, do you wanna hear some of our own stuff?” Johnny asked when they had driven for a while.

“Hyung, _stop_ ”, Mark whined next to him.

“Have you recorded some of your own?” That woke Donghyuck’s interest. Whenever a chance to annoy Mark arises - he's IN. Also, Mark had mentioned making some music with Jaehyun before. Donghyuck had wondered what it sounded like.

“Yeah, I have some real gems here”, Johnny smirked at him through the rearview mirror.

“ _Hyuuung"_

“I want to hear!” Donghyuck yelled over the bass. Mark turned to look at him surprised.

“You do?”

“Yeah!” Donghyuck smiled at the alpha's expression. "I want to know if you're as good as you let on" 

“Awesome”, Johnny grinned even wider “Now, this song is called Whiplash”

“NO HYUNG ANYTHING BUT THAT”

So. The music that Mark had written at 17 was definitely... interesting. Johnny played him a few songs that Mark approved of (not the mysterious Whiplash because Mark would start screaming every time he tried to turn it on) but, the moment they stopped at a gas station parking lot and Johnny sent Mark to get them some coffee from the store, he blasted the scandalous song from the speakers.

By the time the younger came back, they were halfway through the song - for the third time - and Donghyuck was dying of laughter on the backseat upon seeing his reaction. Mark turned bright red and turned the music off.

“It’s okay”, Donghyuck said in between his laughter as the older sat down. “We've all been horny teens, Mark”

Johnny spilled his coffee as he laughed so hard. Mark hid his face in his hands and that was the end of it.

The song was… it was hot, though.

The bright atmosphere lasted for the whole forenoon, even though their search wasn’t successful. Not at first. They visited multiple theatres, and some of them were currently going through scenes and practicing for productions that they would start showcasing later in spring. Donghyuck peeked at the performers on stage, in hopes of maybe catching a glimpse of his father. But he was nowhere to be found.

The people they talked to were very kind though. They promised to check through their old actors and they took their contact information in case they found something useful. The people wished them luck with so much enthusiasm, Donghyuck felt a little better about his search.

There was a limit to how much he could do alone. But, he could spread the word, and find more people who were willing to help. Sparking the interest of just one more person connected him to a huge web of people, and the web just kept expanding and expanding and it should catch his father at some point. It _had_ to. That was how humans worked - everyone was connected, some just with longer strands than others.

Jaehyun was shooting for a small brand commercial outside of town, so they went to pick him up before heading for lunch. Or dinner. Or whatever it was called when people ate proper food at four pm.

“Ahh, I’ve been craving pizza for the whole week now”, Jaehyun sighed as they pulled to the pizzeria parking lot. He still had his photoshoot makeup on and his hair was styled, he looked handsome and Johnny had trouble taking his eyes off of him.

 _Not together my ass_ , Donghyuck thought but said nothing. He had some manners even if people often believed otherwise. 

“You had pizza yesterday”, Mark pointed out as they walked in.

“It was a veggie pizza with only tomatoes on it”, Jaehyun whined. “I was dieting so hard for this job but now that it’s done, I’m free”

“And freedom means extra cheese and bacon, am I right?” Johnny sneaked his hand around Jaehyun’s waist as they stood in line, the older two in front and Mark and Donghyuck right behind them.

“Yes”, Jaehyun was eyeing the menu on the wall with shiny eyes. “Say goodbye to the abs babe”

“Sure”, Johnny leaned closer to Jaehyun to whisper something to his ear and Donghyuck turned to look at Mark. 

“I said they… do it their own way”, Mark whispered. Damn, they must be the best looking couple-not-really-a-couple there was.

…

“So, I was thinking”, Jaehyun pointed at Donghyuck with his fork. He was on his second bacon cheeseburger pizza already - that had to be the most disgusting, greasy pizza that Donghyuck had ever seen in his life. He ate two pieces of it too, it was just that good. “How could your father’s name not be in your birth certificate?”

“I don’t exactly have a birth certificate”, Donghyuck admitted. “Or, not the one you probably have. There’s no documentation of my birth, at all”

“Well, that’s just impossible”, Johnny commented and stole a piece of the said unhealthy pizza. “You _were_ born, you should be in _some_ records at least”

“I told you, I was abandoned on a doorstep with a single note. There were no legal papers there”

“But wouldn’t that be easy to solve?”, Jaehyun tilted his head. “Like, the government keeps track of every birth. They would have expected you to come for regular check-ups, for vaccinations, to start school at a certain age, and so on. If you were just… taken and registered somewhere else, they would have noticed that a child was missing, and another of the same age living without a birth certificate. They would have had to make a connection at some point!”

“You know what, I was thinking that too”, Johnny joined Jaehyun. “Couldn’t the staff in the orphanage have just contacted all hospitals, checked the information of all babies who were born on the sixth of June, and made a connection? I’m sure that the police would have been able to do that, at some point at least. Of course, your birthday might not even be the sixth of June but even so, they could have searched for babies of a similar age”

Donghyuck had thought about some of that too. But his mother had said nothing of it, and Hyunhee from the orphanage had said nothing of it. He had feared for something bad, but when he had met Kyungsoo and found out about Baekhyun’s existence, he had no longer thought about it. It had been the early 2000s, it could have worked differently back then. 

But listening to Jaehyun and Johnny, his reasoning sounded so immature. Why had he not thought of it all further? He had just grasped the first strand he had found and wanted to believe that his father had just been a high schooler and that there was nothing bad or wrong that could have been going on. That he just didn’t have a birth certificate _for some reason_ , his parents had not found any information prior to his arrival to the orphanage _for some reason._ The _reason_ didn’t matter because Donghyuck was on his way to find his cool troublemaker father in New York City. After all, he _wanted_ it to be the truth so badly. 

When in reality, this Baekhyun might not even be his father. Sixth of June might not even be his birthday. He might not have been born to a careless high schooler, there might be a whole chain of happenings behind his existence that he had no idea of. There had to be a reason for why finding Baekhyun was so hard, why it felt like he didn’t even exist. 

“What do you think it is, then?” Mark asked as Donghyuck started to feel sick. He might have come to New York for nothing, he was such a _fool_. Why hadn’t he thought of all the possibilities before coming? Because, if Baekhyun wasn't his father... then he could have been conceived and born anywhere, under any circumstances. It could have had something to do with human trafficking, he might have been born for a prostitute or out of rape or even… even _incest._

“I don’t know”, Johnny answered. “All I’m saying is that there is something fishy here”

“Yeah, definitely”, Jaehyun agreed. “It could be related to crime, or- uh, Donghyuck, are you alright?”

NO, he was NOT alright. He felt sick. So sick.

Donghyuck excused himself and ran straight to the bathroom.

To throw up his whole lunch.

Wasn’t that just an exaggerated reaction? But Donghyuck couldn’t help it - he kneeled before the toilet and emptied his stomach, and maybe he cried a few tears too. He felt so… he didn’t even know. Who was he, really, why had he been born? _How_ had he been born? Horror images of laboratories and shady crack houses filled his mind, and he felt disgusted with himself. What was he, where had he been, why had the people responsible for his existence kept him for almost two months? What had they been planning to do with him? And why had they abandoned him in the end?

Did his adoptive parents know something that they didn’t want to tell him?

They must have this figured out!

Donghyuck dug his phone from his pocket and dialed his mother’s number with shaky hands. He didn’t care that it was the middle of the night in Korea, he had to know. Now.

 _“Hey”,_ his mother picked up after the fourth ring. _“What is it, baby, are you okay?”_

“Why do I not have a birth certificate?” Donghyuck heard his voice echoing from the tiles and empty walls. He sounded exactly like he felt - lost, scared, nauseous. “Tell me, why are there no documents of my birth?”

 _“Hey, hey, hey_ ”, his mother’s sleepy voice was gone and it was replaced by a concerned one. _“Did something happen? Hyuckie, have you cried?”_

“That’s not the point!” His voice broke and he knew that he was being unfair for yelling at his mother, but he had to know. “Was I involved in crime?”

 _“First of all, calm down”_ , Donghyuck could hear his mother closing a door, probably so that his father could sleep. _“And second of all - I don’t know. I don’t know why you don’t have a birth certificate, if I did, I would have told you. You know I would.”_

That made sense. His mother wouldn’t keep something so important from him and let him travel to the other side of the world with false hope. But still.

“Okay”, he tried to take deep breaths. “So I might… Could I have criminals as my biological parents?”

_“Donghyuck, what is this about? You’re worrying me.”_

“I’m just scared that I… that I was the result of something terrible! That I might have been created by awful people, that I shouldn’t exist, and-”

 _“Stop that thought right there Hyuckie”_ , his mother said firmly. _“Whatever your biological parents did, it's not your fault. You have the right to exist and I couldn’t hope for a better son than you. You are a blessing, Donghyuck. Repeat it after me”_

“I am a blessing”, Donghyuck repeated quietly. His friends used to say that Donghyuck’s mother had spoiled him rotten, that he was overconfident and arrogant, always calling himself a blessing when jumping on his friends’ backs. With them, he used the phrase just to tease them but in reality, Donghyuck knew that his mother hadn’t spoiled him too much - she had taught him what it was like to truly love, with confidence. Donghyuck’s mother was a wonderful woman, and Donghyuck had been blessed to have her as the one who had raised him.

_“Good. Will you finally tell me what this is all about?”_

Donghyuck took a deep breath. He had woken his mother up in the middle of the night, the least he could do was to tell her why. 

“I’m scared”, he could admit it to her. “What if I’m looking for the wrong person?”

His mother thought for a moment.

 _“Do Kyungsoo told you that you reminded him of Byun Baekhyun, didn’t he?”_ She finally said, softly. _“I saw the pictures and videos that you sent me. I’ve raised you from even before you knew how to walk, and I know that this omega is your biological father. It’s so obvious, from his looks to what Do Kyungsoo told you about the past and his behavior - everything matches. I don’t know how he got you, but you left for this journey to find out, didn’t you? I’m sure you’ll get peace once you find him, no matter what the answer is”_

“How can you be so sure?” Donghyuck sighed. He finally got up and walked out of the stall to wash his hands and see himself in the mirror. His hair was a mess and his eyes were bloodshot. Great.

 _“I don’t know baby, some things in this world you just know”,_ his mother answered. “ _I_ _guess you could call it the maternal instinct”f_

_…_

Donghyuck returned to the table a bit later, after he had gotten himself back together in the bathroom. His mother was right - all signs were pointing at Baekhyun, only he knew the answers to the questions Donghyuck constantly kept asking. Now, he wanted to find him even more than before. He _had_ to find him. And he would not stop before he had him.

The three were eyeing him with mixed expressions as he returned to the table. He had run to the female bathroom on purpose so that none of them could follow him. 

“Um, you alright?” Mark asked as Donghyuck sat down at the table. Most of the food had been eaten already, only a cold, half-eaten slice of pepperoni pizza was sitting on Donghyuck’s plate. He wasn’t hungry anymore, that piece would have to go to waste.

“Yeah, sorry”, he tried to smile. “I shouldn’t eat greasy food, it makes me nauseous”

Mark, who had seen him eat mayonnaise straight from the jar, raised his brows but Johnny and Jaehyun believed him.

“Ouch, sounds awful”, Johnny answered. “Are you okay now? Can you continue?”

“Yeah”, he smiled and tried not to look at Mark. “let’s go”

And they went. To a theatre after theatre after theatre. Johnny and Jaehyun parted from them at six, because Johnny’s shift started at eight and Jaehyun… well, Johnny had been eyeing the younger with a look that indicated that they would probably use the two hours before it for exercise. Yeah, Donghyuck tried not to think about it too much.

They were left near a metro station and he and Mark hopped on it, to continue their search.

The nauseous feeling never left Donghyuck, not properly. He didn’t feel hungry at all despite not having eaten well so maybe it was replaced with that. He didn’t say a word though, not wanting to slow their mission down. They were going to find his father, he could deal with nausea for a while. Seven o’clock, eight o’clock, nine o’clock, ten o’clock… it started to get worse little by little, Donghyuck ate a panini from the corner store and hoped it would help. It didn't.

“Hey, we haven’t checked this place yet!” Mark pointed at a bar that came to view when they turned a corner. It wasn’t the first bar they found that they hadn’t checked on their first few trips around town - the bars in New York were hidden in the weirdest of places, and they had the weirdest of names. Donghyuck’s favorites were: _The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog, Attaboy,_ and _Please Don’t Tell,_ for obvious reasons. This one was just called _Sunset_ \- boring, but not the most boring on his list. That trophy would go to the bar named _Jimmy’s._

“Wanna take a peek inside?” Mark asked. Donghyuck nodded - might as well get that done and over with now that they were there. Consistency was the key, wasn’t it?

The bar in question was a very nice one. It was like a smokey restaurant from a movie, like the one in La La Land. There was an actual stage and a piano there, as well as a wide and colorful bar where they headed immediately, to talk to the staff like they always did.

Someone was playing Moon of Seoul enthusiastically, and the people there seemed to be enjoying themselves. However, Donghyuck didn’t feel well. Like, at all. Maybe it was the crowded space and the air that smelled of cigarettes that was getting under his skin, but soon enough, he didn’t only feel nauseous anymore. He felt- 

Sweaty. 

Feverish.

Shit. _Oh shit no, not here, not now._ Donghyuck closed his eyes and took a deep breath, to calm his mind. But the uncomfortable warmth under his skin was familiar and he knew what it meant.

Suddenly, his cravings, mood swings, and headaches all made sense. He had been in preheat for days already, nature wouldn't give him any more time to prepare.

SHIT.

“Mark”, he said loudly, interrupting his discussion with the bartender. “We have to go”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Donghyuck didn’t bother waiting for him but instead rushed to the door. He couldn’t stay inside any longer, he had to get fresh air RIGHT NOW.

When he got out he somehow lost his footing. He saw the ground get closer but before he hit his face to the asphalt, he felt arms around him.

“What the hell?”, Mark’s voice sounded like they were underwater. “You’re burning up!”

Donghyuck knew what it meant. He hadn’t gotten the flu because Jaemin had forgotten the window open - no, he was going into heat. And he told that much to Mark, who should have been able to smell that on him already but of course, hadn’t realized.

Maybe he was as stupid as Donghyuck, noticing the obvious signs but not making the connection in his head. Mark had been a bit handsy with him after their dorm room chat but, if he had never smelled a male omega in preheat before, he might just not notice anything other than the fact that Donghyuck suddenly smelled better to him. 

“What the fuck?” Mark almost dropped him but Donghyuck grabbed his arms so tightly that the other yelped. “Heat? Right now?”

“Yell it a little louder now won’t you?” They were speaking Korean, so hopefully, no one else would understand but Donghyuck preferred not taking any chances. “And yeah, very soon, so standing here is not a good idea”

“Shouldn’t you omegas be able to track these things?” Mark asked while trying to take a better hold of Donghyuck whose legs were slowly turning into spaghetti. Despite that, Donghyuck shot him a glance that was pretty much meant to kill. He knew it, he knew he had been an idiot, he didn’t want to be reminded of it.

“Okay, sorry”, the older gulped. “What do you want me to do?”

“Scent me”, Donghyuck said immediately. “Scent me like your life depended on it and get me to the metro”

“Metro?” Mark asked with a choked voice. “You are NOT going to the metro in this state!”

“That’s what the scenting would have been for”, Donghyuck started to feel desperate. The burn under his skin was getting worse by the minute and fighting with Mark was only wasting the little _sane_ time that he had left. And he was already very short on that.

“Absolutely not”, Mark said, and his tone indicated that it was final. Maybe it was the young alpha in his voice or something but Donghyuck shut up and didn’t say anything anymore. Instead, he nuzzled closer to Mark’s neck. His scent had an instant effect on him, it calmed his crazy heart and made the burning a bit more bearable.

He didn’t care that they were on an open street. Maybe that was just one more sign that he was way too far gone.

“Okay”, Mark was trying to think rationally with his arms full of omega. “I’m taking you away from here. Somewhere closer. I’ll get a taxi for us. Let go, Donghyuck”

Donghyuck did it because it was an alpha telling him to, but not too much. He still held on to Mark’s arm like it was his lifeline.

Omegas' heats weren’t always mindless fucking sprees like many popular novelists liked to portray them. With good medication and scent blockers, omegas were able to go to school and work during them. Omegas on regular suppressants were able to track them as well.

The thing was… that Donghyuck didn’t have suppressants. Or scent blockers. Or any meds. Jungwoo had been right in being worried over him - not having any of them generally meant more brutal heats. Donghyuck had been so sure that he would still have a few weeks before another one would strike but _no can do,_ he was going in heat in New York and nothing could stop that anymore. 

Mark managed to push him to the back seat of a taxi and tell the driver an address as he followed suit. Donghyuck buried his face in Mark’s neck in embarrassment as the driver kept checking them out through the rearview mirror. It was quite usual for teens going into their first heats to struggle with them, but Donghyuck was twenty already. He should have it under control.

But this driver was some ignorant alpha man who probably thought he was a kid anyway so Donghyuck didn’t really give a fuck about what he thought as the car got filled with omega pheromones. He sought comfort in Mark and the older was smart enough to give it to him. Mark wrapped his arm around him and used the other to reach for his phone and call someone. Of course, they couldn’t go to Mark’s dorm so there had to be another place.

Donghyuck couldn’t hear what was said on the other end due to the engine of the car and his blood running in his ears but apparently, the people agreed since Mark didn’t give the driver any new instructions. And after fifteen minutes (or probably fifteen hours) they came to a stop.

Mark paid the driver and had to hold Donghyuck up. He almost carried the younger up the stairs, into an elevator, and through hallways. Donghyuck took a mental note to treat the older better - Donghyuck had no power over himself, not really, and _thank fucking god_ Mark hadn’t sent him to the metro since he would have probably passed out in there. Being in heat, with other people seeing it, was a very humbling experience. Because no matter how in control you thought you were, nature would take over you and leave you breathless, sweaty, and in other people’s mercy.

Donghyuck’s head was killing him and he felt like throwing up again since Mark was moving him so quickly. But he didn’t dare voice any of his observations, he just wanted to get to safety and lay down and he didn’t care where that was.

They stopped in front of a door and Mark knocked violently. The door opened and Donghyuck got pushed in. Mark made him sit down on a stool and Donghyuck could calm down, finally. He leaned against the wall and breathed in the beta scent of the apartment. So, they were at Jaehyun’s place, not Johnny’s. It made sense since dragging an omega in heat to a random alpha’s apartment had never been a good idea. Even if it was just Johnny. 

“Hi again, Donghyuck”, Jaehyun greeted him and Donghyuck only now realized he was there, kneeling in front of him. Of course, he was, since someone must have opened the door to them. Jaehyun asked for permission with his movements and Donghyuck allowed him - he patted Donghyuck’s head carefully and Donghyuck leaned to the touch. Mark kneeled next to him to remove Donghyuck’s shoes and once he was done, he lifted Donghyuck to his arms bridal style. 

“You can take him to the bedroom”, Jaehyun said quietly and led the way. The apartment wasn’t very big but the room was located on the other side from the front door. “I’ll sleep at Johnny’s. I’ll come back tomorrow and we can think about what to do then, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you, hyung, I owe you one”, Mark said as he placed Donghyuck gently on the bed. He felt so nauseous, but finally getting to a place he could stay at made his body calm down a bit.

“Thank you Jaehyun hyung”, he croaked. He realized he hadn’t exactly said anything after yelling at Mark outside the bar, and thank god he hadn’t. His vocal cords were dying.

But Jaehyun smiled sympathetically by the door.

“No problem Donghyuck. Good luck - oh, and I left some… stuff in the nightstand, so you can use them, it’s okay. Try to get some sleep in too, and remember to drink plenty of water! I’ll get going!”

Donghyuck curled to himself and tried to even out his breathing. He would have to pay back to Jaehyun in some way, probably Johnny and definitely Mark as well. Damn him and his hormones, he still hadn’t found his father and there he was, in New York, in heat, in an apartment of a guy he had only met two weeks ago. Maybe they could be seen as friends by now, acquaintances? 

But still, it was beyond embarrassing. 

He heard the front door closing, and Mark came to the door of the bedroom soon. His confident, bossy alpha side that had gotten them from the bar to the apartment seemed to be gone, and now he was fidgeting nervously at the door of the bedroom. Donghyuck’s hormones were going crazy and all he wanted was to swim in the alpha scent and get as close to him as possible. But he had to remember that Mark was just a person as well - he couldn’t just devour him like an animal.

“Um, what do you want me to do?” Mark asked. Donghyuck’s omega was screaming and demanding the alpha to get closer but thank god Donghyuck still had some power over it.

“Can you cuddle me?” _Some_ control, not _full_ control. Asking a guy he had just met a few weeks ago to cuddle him while he was in heat wasn’t something Donghyuck usually did but… It would make him feel so much better, he couldn’t _not_ ask for it. Having alpha scent close calmed him down, he would sweat less, and overall his body would be content. Because the reason for the pheromones and everything was to get an alpha close. He only needed one and his body would be happy.

Mark looked unsure though.

“I mean”, Donghyuck continued. “You don’t have to do anything beyond that, it’s just… having an alpha close makes the symptoms easier to handle. But you don’t even have to do that, it’s okay, I’m thankful you brought me here”

“I’ll do it”, Mark answered, finally. He removed his jacket and crawled to the bed next to him. Donghyuck lost all self-control that he had possessed until that moment (which wasn’t much, to begin with) and snuggled next to the older. Mark wrapped his arms around him and Donghyuck sighed in content against his neck, already feeling the effects of having him close.

Heats were exhausting to the body because of the fever aspect. So, the moment Donghyuck felt comfortable enough, he drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hnhnnghh I’m so nervous for the next chapter oh my GOD


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to hell

Donghyuck’s dreams were wild. At one point he was flying over New York, the next, he was making out with Mark in a nightclub, then he was a deer eating an apple the size of an apartment building, and then he was lying on the ground, unable to move, reaching out for the people passing by but no one cared. Oh, and he had sex. So much sex. With everything and everyone.

Typical heat dreams. His body was so frustrated that he could feel it in his dreams. When he woke up, maybe an hour or maybe a day later, he snuggled closer to the amazing smell that had wrapped its hands around him.

“Hey, you awake?” A voice asked - it was so dark and thick and delicious, Donghyuck wanted to wrap around it and swallow it whole. Or, to be swallowed whole by it. He didn’t care, either way, he wanted to feel something get _devoured._

He only hummed an answer to what had been asked and pressed his nose against the source of the alpha smell. It was so _good._

“I texted Jaemin, just in case. He told me to make sure you drink a lot of water. Are you hurting anywhere?”

The same delicious voice continued. Donghyuck could feel the vibrations as he pressed his cheek against his neck. What a very nice neck it was, he pressed his lips against it. Ah, it even tasted good. The other took a sharp breath but it was obvious that he liked it, his pheromones mixing with Donghyuck’s in the small room. 

“Um, Donghyuck”

“Mmh?”

“What are you doing?”

Oh, right. This wasn’t just an object of his desires he was hugging, it was a person. It was _MARK_. Donghyuck didn’t want to be the one doing something without the other’s consent. He leaned away, just a little, to see Mark’s face. His pupils were blown, his hungry eyes looking at Donghyuck, and oh god he was so hot and Donghyuck wanted him _so much_.

“But you’re in heat, you’re not thinking clearly”

Oh, he had said that aloud apparently. Suddenly, Donghyuck was completely awake, and he realized what he had been doing. Mark wasn’t leaning away, though, he looked just as aroused as Donghyuck felt and okay, maybe he wasn’t thinking it through as much as he usually would but… _But he needed him._ He could feel the fever causing havoc in his body, he could feel his frustrating arousal and he was in pain.

“My stomach hurts”, he whined. Because it did - it _ached._ Because his body was preparing him for mating and it always went over the top with it. His muscles ached, and he could feel pains equivalent for contractions - not like he had ever felt actual contractions, he had never given birth, but his body was _demanding_ him to be filled so it gave him painful muscle cramps. They were sometimes called heat contractions.

That wasn’t fair at all. Donghyuck knew that having sex now would reduce the pain, but the way his body was forcing him to put something in there was so _unfair._ Wouldn’t being horny be enough? Why did he need to be horny _and_ in pain?

Fuck his ancestors for living in celibacy for so long that humanity had almost gone extinct and nature had had to force them to mate. What other things had they been doing in their caves anyway? They hadn’t even had wifi, wouldn’t having sex be the best pastime?

Now, Donghyuck was suffering because of those idiots. The species should have died down back then, it would have deserved it. 

“I think hyung has pain medicine in the bathroom”, Mark said and was trying to get up, but Donghyuck panicked and grabbed him so he couldn’t move. He was still living in the nice bubble of Mark’s scent and warmth and if he left, Donghyuck’s body would go haywire, throw a tantrum like a five-year-old at the candy aisle. Now, his body was expecting the alpha smell to result in mating, but if Mark left, it would just lose it because it hadn’t gotten what it wanted.

“Don’t go”, his voice sounded restrained. “Please, there’s no medicine that could help me anymore”

“What is there to do then?” Mark asked. “What helps for the pain?”

Donghyuck weighed his options. Mark hadn’t reacted that badly to him. Donghyuck could smell his emotions and right now there were no hints of Mark not wanting him close. He had stayed there for him, and Donghyuck could smell his arousal too - it was a natural reaction from Mark, but doing something about it would benefit them both.

Had he been in the right state of mind, Dongyuck would have never done it. But he wasn’t. And he was hurting.

Donghyuck climbed on top of Mark, to straddle him with his thighs. Mark was as red as him, but he looked so damn cute with his wide eyes and… plump lips. Mark gulped, his adam's apple moving up and down and Donghyuck eyed it with interest. 

“You”, he said, feeling out of breath after getting up. The fever was raging in his body, making sure he’d not protest any alpha trying to mate him.

Seriously, why had his ancestors been so strongly against having sex?

“You could help me”, he repeated, as Mark took his time to answer. The time seemed to have stopped, Donghyuck tried his best to let the alpha think it through but he was getting impatient. He didn’t want to beg but… He would if it came down to it. Because the pain would only keep increasing until someone helped him. It wasn’t like he would die of it - nature wasn’t _that_ cruel - but he would start crying and no one wanted that. 

“You’re not thinking clearly”, Mark finally answered. “You’re weak”

“Not that weak” Donghyuck leaned down, just a few centimeters from Mark’s lips. “If you don’t want to do this then say it how it is. Don’t give me excuses”

The look in Mark’s eyes changed. It darkened. And finally, fucking _finally_ he reached out to cup Donghyuck’s face and pull him down for a kiss.

Oh god.

Donghyuck’s whole body went crazy. He opened his lips and Mark took the offer, licking into his mouth and making him moan. He was much more sensitive in heat, which was both a nice plus and a curse, since anything he did just aroused him. Having Mark, a young alpha, there in bed with him… oh boy. His body was _ready_. 

Mark’s hands came to a stop on his hips. They were making out a little clumsily, the coordination was lost and there was too much spit but Donghyuck felt every breath, every moan and grunt sent blood down, down, down. He rolled his hips a little and Mark moaned beautifully. Mark tasted so good, smelled so good, his moan was so beautifully low and _alpha._

“Oh god”, Mark murmured with that delicious voice. “Have you done this before?”

“Um, yeah”, with Jaemin, and with an alpha from his class called Sunwoo who had fingered him at the back of a bus on a field trip, when Donghyuck’s heat had once again hit him at a bad time. It hadn’t been the most romantic first time with an alpha but Sunwoo had known his stuff. Of course, there hadn’t been anyone else on the bus at the time - the rest of the class had been outside, doing the stuff they had been supposed to do. When he and Sunwoo had joined them later, with ruffed hair and red faces, he was 1000% sure that their classroom teacher could see what they had been doing. But no one had said anything.

“Good. Good then”, Mark said and Donghyuck made him quiet down with another kiss. Mark grabbed him a bit stronger and lifted Donghyuck from himself, to change their positions. Donghyuck felt a million butterflies in his stomach when Mark pressed him against the pillows, and his hands found their way under his shirt. Donghyuck helped Mark remove the offensive piece of clothing from his feverish skin and did the same to him. Donghyuck felt Mark's lean stomach under his palms and he knew he was a goner.

Mark was hot. His body was toned, and Donghyuck wanted to kiss every part of his exposed skin. However, he was way too desperate for release to do any of that. Mark’s moves were very shy and hesitant, but Donghyuck let him do whatever he wanted. During heats Donghyuck generally didn’t mind getting some bruises or even bites - Jaemin was into biting so that was what he did - but Mark didn’t know it. He was almost too careful, as he shyly touched the hem of Donghyuck’s pants. And a thought entered his heat-wrecked brain. 

“Have _you_ done this before?” Donghyuck asked. He wouldn’t want to take away Mark’s virginity, just because the elder felt like he was responsible. To Donghyuck, virginity meant nothing - it wasn’t like getting a piece of meat thrown into you would change you as a person, that was just absurd. But it might mean more to Mark and Donghyuck had to respect that. Even if the alpha wasn't a virgin, he wouldn't want to pressure him. Mark had every right to say no. 

_Look at him_. He was desperate in heat and he still thought of Mark’s feelings. He was such a good omega, wasn’t he?

“Yes”, the older answered, a bit too fast. 

“Really?”

“Yeah, really”, Mark nodded, getting even redder. “I got drunk at the start of college and slept with- uh, an omega girl. It wasn’t great and my memory is hazy so… Donghyuck, I’m not the one who should be taking care of you. I don’t know how”

“Yes, you do”, Donghyuck touched his face, to make him look at him in the eyes. Because it was the truth - Even if Mark didn’t know, his alpha would. It wasn’t that difficult, really, taking care of someone’s sexual needs in heat. And even if Mark was the worst alpha in the world - which he wasn’t - he would still be able to just… just fuck him. Fill him. Knot him. That was all he needed to do. 

It wasn’t like Donghyuck had any other options right now either. And even if he had… he wouldn’t want anyone else.

“I want you, Mark”, Donghyuck continued. “As you are. That is enough. _Please_ ”

It was as though a switch had been turned on, the alpha darkness surrounded him and it was Donghyuck’s turn to gulp. Mark leaned down to kiss his neck, leave hickeys on it to mark him as his own, and Donghyuck couldn’t help but moan when he felt teeth against his skin.

“Tell me what you like”, Mark’s voice was demanding, Donghyuck gasped as he placed more of his weight on top of him. 

“A- anything from you”, when Mark looked at him, his eyes were pitch black. _“Alpha”_

Mark wasn’t rough by nature despite being an alpha. But he did know when he needed to take the lead. Despite not being experienced, the alpha in him knew what to do and Donghyuck could let him take care of him like nature was desperately trying to make him do. They removed each layer of clothing until there was nothing between them anymore. Mark kissed him, stretched him, pushed into him, and Donghyuck almost cried out when his body finally got what it had so desperately wanted.

Donghyuck didn’t know what time it was, whether it was still night or had the morning come already. The room was dark, the blinds were closed so no one would see them sinning. Donghyuck wasn’t one to care about religion or anything, but if he were to describe the situation, that was the only word he could think of. Sinful. All he could see, hear, feel, smell, and taste was Mark, the older alpha who was taking such good care of him.

Mark Mark Mark Mark

_Mark Mark Mark Mark_

The alpha grunted and squeezed Donghyuck’s hips as he pushed deeper into him. Mark fucked him with a steady pace that quickly picked up since they were both so impatient. They were a panting mess, there was so much spit, sweat, and maybe some tears too, as they moved until Mark finally reached his climax. Donghyuck was not far behind, seeing white as he came all over their stomachs.

Mark was almost shaking, still holding his weight mainly on his elbows not to crush Donghyuck under himself. Getting knotted wasn’t painful since Donghyuck’s heat wrecked body had been preparing him exactly for that. He felt his body already repaying him for getting a knot inside of him, the pain was decreasing and he felt the fever going down. Both he and Mark were out of breath, Donghyuck had his arms around Mark’s shoulders, and he hugged him tightly against himself.

They should clean up. But right now they were locked together by the knot, so that had to wait.

“Thank you”, Donghyuck sighed and closed his eyes.

“It’s really no problem”, Mark answered, just as breathlessly. 

_That_ had been something.

And _that_ became an essential part of their routine. Donghyuck woke up, they had sex, then they ate and had sex again, then Donghyuck slept a little and when he woke up, they had sex and ate and had some more sex. Donghyuck could have had more but Mark had his limits. Had they been in a natural environment, his heat would trigger Mark’s rut and they would be fertile and match each other’s stamina perfectly. That hadn’t happened this time, but Mark was young and in good shape so that wasn’t a problem. Mark didn’t complain once but instead took care of Donghyuck’s needs whenever he asked. If he couldn’t form a knot - asking that from an alpha over eight times a day, even if the alpha was young like Mark, was way too much - he would use his fingers or something else.

While Donghyuck and Mark were busy fucking away the heat, Jaemin happily traveled through Ellis island and a million museums with Eric and didn’t miss Donghyuck one bit. He did send a few texts on the first day, to remind him to use protection and have fun though. Donghyuck appreciated his concern - he and Mark used up several packages of condoms, Donghyuck seriously felt bad for creating so much trash. But he didn’t want to get pregnant and that was the only birth control option they had so, no could do.

Donghyuck didn’t think about him much, because he knew that Jaemin would be okay with a nice beta on his side. He didn’t think about his father either, or Johnny or Jaehyun or anything at all. His mind was occupied and Mark stayed next to him the whole time, making sure he stayed somewhat satisfied so that he could sleep.

...

On the 16th of January, Donghyuck woke up alone. However, he heard the sound of water hitting the tiles in the next room, so he didn’t worry. They had been glued to each other for days and Mark had slept with him despite Donghyuck being sweaty and disgusting. This was the first time in four days that Donghyuck had woken up feeling like a human being again - his heat had finally broken.

Jaehyun had come by each day to make sure they were okay, but he hadn’t even suggested that Donghyuck should leave. That was beyond selfless, considering that they were conquering his apartment for days and he didn’t even know Donghyuck that well. Mark had assured him that it was fine and that Jaehyun was basically living at Johnny’s place already, but still. Donghyuck would have to come up with a good way to thank him, something super great.

He heard the shower stop and he prepared himself for embarrassment. Now that his mind was clear, he could see all of the faults in his behavior - a moral hangover of some kind. He was usually quite shameless but Mark and Jaehyun both had gone out of their way to help him tame something that should be under his control already. Mark especially. He had skipped three days' worth of lectures in order to take care of Donghyuck.

He had said that it was fine, though, and that Kevin was taking notes for him. Everything seemed to be fine with him. Donghyuck knew that he could be such a brat when he was in heat (even more so than usual) and he had tried to turn it down but it was difficult. He felt somewhat uncomfortable all the time so of course, he whined. Sometimes, he could see Mark closing his eyes and counting to ten in his head to keep his cool, but he never as much as snapped at Donghyuck. He was so good to Donghyuck, much better than he had to be.

The shower stopped. Donghyuck reached for his phone on the nightstand and sat up, scrolling through his message history. He hadn’t told his mother about his heat - of course not - but the group chat had gotten a whiff of what was happening, through Jaemin. The people there made fun of him, but he also had private messages from Renjun and Jeno, asking him how he was doing. Donghyuck smiled a little.

Back when they had been in their early teens and puberty had hit them, making each of the three childhood friends a different sub gender, they had been so awkward about things like these. Ruts and heats and attraction were all difficult things to deal with and talk about, but they couldn’t ignore them either since they were such a big part of them. 

Because suddenly, there were times when Renjun and Donghyuck absolutely couldn’t be together because of the sub genders. Suddenly, Donghyuck was given a new set of rules to follow and he had to go to different bathrooms and changing rooms than his friends, and the tension between them changed. The natural power dynamic started to play a role: Renjun had an alpha voice and Donghyuck had his submissive side deep wired into him no matter how much he tried to deny it. Jeno was in between everything and everyone and he had to learn to understand himself as well. 

Jaemin had arrived at the exact right time, like the force of nature that he was, and changed the view of the world for them all. He was so open, he tore down the walls they had built around heats and ruts and made them talk. Sexuality, mating schedules and everything that there could be were suddenly there in the open, they had no choice but to talk about all of it. After a couple of years of walking on fragile ice, they got close again. Closer than they had ever been, possibly. 

Now, the others could make fun of Donghyuck’s irregularity and the situations it took him, and Donghyuck knew when Renjun’s rut was due, almost exactly. They spent a little less time with each other physically when either of them was close to their peak of fertility, but that didn’t harm their relationship anymore. It was just something that had to be done in order to avoid going into unscheduled, synced heat or rut - because God knew _they_ weren’t going to help each other out.

The door to the bathroom opened and Donghyuck looked up. Mark was wearing gray sweatpants and an equally boring tee, his hair still damp and the towel hung on his shoulders. He looked surprised to see Donghyuck up.

“Oh, hi”, he said. “How are you feeling?”

“A lot better”, Donghyuck answered honestly and put his phone away. “I think it’s over”

Mark sat down next to him and started drying his hair to the towel.

“That’s good to hear”, he said. “I was starting to get worried”

Donghyuck watched him. Mark smelled shower fresh, obviously, but Donghyuck was looking for something else. Mark’s alpha smell was unchanged, not stronger, how he had feared it would be. Mark hadn’t shown any signs of rut during the past few days but it could come a little late as well. Everything seemed to be back to normal for both of them, but Donghyuck asked anyway.

“I didn’t trigger a rut, did I?”

“Nah, I don’t think so”, Mark shook his head. “I’m on suppressants anyway”

Ah, that made sense. Many alphas used them too, to make their ruts more regular and less maddening. When omegas often used scent blockers as well, though, alphas didn’t. And obviously, Donghyuck didn’t. He should probably go meet a doctor and get himself a prescription though, he wouldn’t want to repeat what had happened.

But it wasn’t like he regretted sleeping with Mark. He was a nice guy and by the looks of it, he hadn’t grown himself a big ego from that either. He also wasn’t awkward about it - or, maybe just a little bit, but that was just his personality. Mark had been… sweet, gentle, and understanding. And a quick learner.

“So”, Mark started again. “If you’re feeling better, should we continue our search?”

Right, that was what they were doing here. No need to talk about what had happened, it had just been out of necessity anyway. An alpha had helped an omega because that was what had to be done, there had been nothing less, nothing more going on there. He and Mark were just… business partners, kinda, searching for his parents together. They had just slept together a few times, they weren’t _togethe_ r now - they were in America, not Korea, where it was all normal. Well, Donghyuck actually... liked that. Yeah. It made it easier for him. 

But there was just one little obstacle.

“It’s hopeless”, Donghyuck fell back down on the bed. They had changed the sheets once every day, but these still smelled like his sweat - his overly sweet heat sweat. Disgusting.

Mark turned to look at him, deeming his hair dry enough. He looked so handsome, looking down at Donghyuck like that. All Donghyuck wanted was to pull him down and kiss him.

He wasn’t in heat anymore, that was _off-limits_ _!_

He had known Mark for a bit over two weeks now. It was way too little time to grow feelings for anyone but they _had_ just spent over three days in bed together, fucking away Donghyuck’s frustrating heat. The way Mark touched him was so sweet, he made sure that Donghyuck was fine with everything that he was about to do, and Donghyuck could feel that they were physically compatible.

Even when they weren’t having sex, Mark had brushed Donghyuck’s hair gently until he fell asleep and he made sure that Donghyuck ate and drank and bathed regularly. He even massaged Donghyuck where the heat made him stiff. It was much more than the bare minimum that most alphas liked to do - Donghyuck felt cared for, loved.

Was it foolish to expect it to last?

Of course, it was.

“It’s only hopeless when you say so”, Mark said softly. “Come on, Lee Donghyuck, where is your fighting spirit?”

“I don’t know”, Donghyuck sighed honestly. “I’m sore, I’m tired and I really don’t believe in this anymore”

They had gone through bars, restaurants, cafes, theatres, the embassy, immigrant office, China town, Korea towns… even more, places that had led them nowhere. Donghyuck had been in New York for almost three weeks now, and he had only taken a few baby steps at first and then, nothing. He had nothing, and he had no idea of where to look for next.

“You can take a day off, rest for a bit. We can continue later if you don’t feel up for it now”, Mark said. He was trying his best to smile a little. Their eyes locked for a moment too long, Donghyuck was the one to look away. He felt redness reaching for his cheeks - what had gotten into him? It had been just sex, nothing more, and all of his weird attraction towards Mark beforehand could be explained with preheat. He didn’t even know him, not really, it had just been his hormones talking because they matched physically so well. That alone meant nothing in the real world.

“And, um”, Mark continued. “I’m sorry. About your soreness. I should have been more careful”.

“No”, Donghyuck sat up quickly. He was suddenly very close to the older but he didn’t care. “It’s not your fault. I’m always sore after a heat”

The clock on the wall kept ticking, creating the only sound in the room. Mark was the first one to look down.

“Still-”

“Thank you”, Donghyuck cut Mark off before he managed to finish his sentence. He bit his lip - he was bad at being sincere, but for Mark, he would try. “For helping me, and taking good care of me. I would have been so lost without you and you did more than you had to. I… I don’t know how I could thank you enough, to be honest”

“You don’t have to thank me”, Mark shook his head. “Of course I took care of you, that’s my duty as a good alpha”

Duty. Yeah, it had been just a duty for him. Donghyuck looked down as well. Well, that duty had been taken care of, so there was no reason for Donghyuck to stay.

“I don’t mean it like that”, Mark put a hand on his thigh as he tried to get up. Of course, the alpha would smell the change in Donghyuck’s mood, especially now that they had gotten to know each other’s scents so well. Donghyuck looked up and could see Mark’s cheeks flushing pink.

“It wasn’t just a chore for me or anything, I mean, I… uh… I had a good time as well. Or, like, kinda, you know what I mean”

“I do”, Donghyuck couldn’t hold back the smile that spread on his cheeks as he listened to the older rambling. Donghyuck wouldn’t mind another round after his soreness had faded away - because sex with Mark had been good. 

Too bad that it couldn’t happen because that would be just ridiculous. Donghyuck had to take the reality into account - he didn’t want to break his heart because of a holiday romance, and he didn’t have time for one either. He was supposed to be looking for his father, he had already wasted too much time.

But, he needed Mark for that. So, he had to figure out what their relationship was like now and deal with it. Donghyuck had meant it when he said that he would be lost without Mark - in more ways than one. Paying back for the alpha’s efforts would balance their awfully unbalanced relationship (Mark was a giver and Donghyuck just kept taking and taking and taking - no relationship worked like that, not even a business one)

“There has to be something that I can do for you, though”, Donghyuck said. Mark was still red. “Anything you want. I owe you”

Mark thought for a moment but didn’t stand against the idea immediately, which was good. Then, as the pinkness had almost faded away from his face, he answered.

“Just hold on to your hope”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this list for a while but didn't know when to share it (or whether I should at all) but since there wasn't much development in the search in this chapter, I thought that might as well:
> 
> There are many reasons for why I chose Baekhyun to be Donghyuck’s omega father.  
> 1\. Their body types are similar  
> 2\. They are both really good vocalists and unique dancers  
> 3\. Their personalities match: they’re both really funny, touchy and have a good social sense (they are the lovable mood makers of their respective groups)  
> 4\. Baekhyun’s superpower is light, sun, and Donghyuck is full sun… I thought that was so cute and could add a meaningful layer to it all


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaahhhh I'm in a hurry but I wanted to quickly upload this chapter before I'm gone for the day  
> Sorry for mistakes, I'll recheck this as soon as I have the time!

When Donghyuck returned to the apartment, he saw Jaemin’s shoes in the hallway. That was odd - it wasn’t even three o’clock yet, Donghyuck had been sure that he would still be out with Eric. There were no lights on, the curtains had been pulled in front of the windows, but it was the middle of the day, so Donghyuck could still see well. He kicked his shoes off, hung his jacket, and walked in, only to see Jaemin lying on the bed, his back towards him.

Donghyuck could sense his sadness. He was an unmoving lump under the covers, he didn’t react to Donghyuck’s arrival at all, but he wasn’t sleeping either. Worry immediately grew in Donghyuck’s chest.

“Hey”, he said softly and dropped his bag on the floor. “Nana, what’s wrong?”

Jaemin sniffed and the sound went straight to Donghyuck’s heart, filling it with ice. He climbed to the bed next to Jaemin and hugged him from behind to comfort him. Jaemin sniffed a couple more times and although Donghyuck couldn’t see his face, he knew that Jaemin had been crying for a while already.

“Did something happen?” Donghyuck couldn’t bear seeing Jaemin like this when he didn’t even know why he was so sad. Had something happened with Eric? Or had someone else done something to Jaemin? Donghyuck shouldn’t have left him alone for such a long time, he should have figured something out so he could look after Jaemin who didn’t know what was good for himself. But Jaemin had seemed so happy, sending pictures to the group chat from everywhere he had been, Donghyuck had thought everything was fine.

“Jungwoo hyung called me”, Jaemin finally said with an unsteady voice. “He... he’s pregnant”

“Oh”, that wasn’t at all what Donghyuck was expecting to hear. “Um, is that a bad thing?”

“No, no”, Jaemin turned around and Donghyuck could finally see his red face and puffy eyes. He swept away the leftover tears. “I mean, that’s amazing! I’m so happy for him, I know this is all he’s ever wanted. Even though the baby is going to be so ugly because it’s Dongyoung’s”

“Oh come on, Jungwoo could mate with Shrek and still have the most beautiful children in the whole world”

Jaemin chuckled at that but fresh tears were forming in his eyes. So, Jungwoo was pregnant. In all honesty, it wasn’t a surprise - Jungwoo loved children and he loved Dongyoung, it had been obvious that he would want to be a parent as soon as possible. Dongyoung was already making good money working for a law firm so they would be able to financially live well even though Jungwoo was still technically a student. He was 22 in Korean age, turning 21 internationally, there was nothing questionable in their situation even though they were young.

Donghyuck knew that Jaemin would be a great uncle. He would spoil the child rotten. Jaemin loved kids just as much as Jungwoo, he was great with them, and Donghyuck knew he had secretly waited for this day too. However, these tears seemed like something other than just happy tears.

“Why are you crying, then?” 

Jaemin didn’t answer. Instead, he just buried his face on Donghyuck’s shirt. Donghyuck hugged him closer. It had definitely something to do with Jungwoo’s pregnancy but he had no idea what. The cold feeling in his heart only spread, and he swallowed.

“Jungwoo is alright, right?”

“What? Yeah, of course, he is! He was still crying when he called me, out of happiness, and Dongyoung looked like he was about to faint. Hyung wanted to tell me first, before tellingmy parents, because you know that once they hear, the whole country will know”

Donghyuck couldn’t help but smile at that. Jaemin’s parents were a chaotic couple but in a good way. Constantly running back and forth, Donghyuck could imagine the whole family screaming out of joy and happiness when Jungwoo told them the news. (And Dongyoung looking like he wanted to escape when their alpha father would wrap him in a hug and pat him on the back.) Jaemin’s family was a happy one, a healthy one, they had let their kids explore the world freely but still with enough boundaries to make sure that they grew into caring, smart and empathetic people. 

Donghyuck loved Jaemin for being who he was. That was why it hurt him to see him in so much pain, especially when he didn’t understand it. Jaemin needed some time to get his thoughts together, so Donghyuck made sure to stroke his hair and wait patiently. And before long, Jaemin started to speak again.

“Do you think I’m a whore?”

“What?” Again, not what Donghyuck expected Jaemin to say. “Of course not, why would you think that? Since when have you cared about what other people think anyway?”

Jaemin shrugged joylessly.

“I just… I just feel so dirty all of a sudden”, he muttered. “Like, I never thought I would want to commit to anyone because I like to keep my options open but this… This isn’t it.”

It didn’t seem like it had much to do with Jungwoo’s pregnancy at first but Donghyuck knew that Jaemin’s thought patterns were sometimes really complicated and long - unlike what you’d imagine for someone who had one night stands and got drunk every other week. Under all that carelessness, Jaemin did have a tender heart.

Donghyuck had thought his heart had been fine with everything he did though.

“What do you mean, exactly?” He had to ask.

“What I mean is”, Jaemin took a deep breath. “I don’t think this… lifestyle is taking me anywhere. I mean, I like to keep it casual and I like it that I can go out and never know who I’ll spend the night with, I like the freedom of it, but… Man, most of those alphas don’t even find my prostate, I have to teach it to them every single time and it’s starting to get boring.”

 _That_ didn’t sound like the reason why Na Jaemin was crying in New York. 

“And”, he continued. “I don’t think this is making me happy in the long run. I think it’s ruining me, and I’m never going to be able to commit”

“Okay, first of all, you are barely 20 years old Nana”, Donghyuck answered. “And second - why did you never tell me? I had no idea you felt that way”

“I don’t know, I just felt stupid, I guess?” Jaemin still didn’t look at Donghyuck. “Like, one night I would be feeling like a slut and promise myself that I’ll work on it and not jump the first alpha I see and the next day I’m having a threesome with two of our upperclassmen in the janitor’s office”

“That sounds oddly specific”, and something Jaemin had definitely done in the past. “But there is nothing wrong with having a strong sex drive and sleeping with multiple people for as long as you take care of protection and… you know, are on the same page about it”

“I know and I do but I… Every time I sleep with someone new, I just feel even more lonely afterward because I _know_ that the only reason why they have sex with me is that I’m pretty - because it’s the same for me! I don’t care about their interests or morals! And still I... I don’t know. I just want to be _loved_ ”

Donghyuck got it. He did. Because he felt the same. He got attention easily but love was different. Love had to be built over time and difficulties, it had to be grown and cherished and taken care of. And people had to try many times before they found the right person to do it all with. 

Jungwoo was happy, it felt like he had been ever since meeting Dongyoung because they were perfect together. They were lucky as well since the spark that had been born when they had met had been strong enough to pull them over hard times and to form into love - or, they had just worked hard to take care of it. Now, that love was growing inside Jungwoo into a human, a life born out of love that they felt for each other. Was there anything more beautiful, more romantic in the whole world? Donghyuck didn’t think so.

It was going to be a huge change for the whole family because they were so close. Jaemin’s life was going to change a little as well since he still visited his brother multiple times a week. It was no wonder that this new revelation made him think differently. Come to think of it… Jungwoo had been the same age as they were now when he had gotten engaged.

“You’ll find someone eventually”, he answered. He hated that sentence but it was the truth - if they both just kept looking, they would find people who matched with them, eventually. They would keep lowering their expectations until they found someone. Donghyuck brushed long strands of hair behind Jaemin’s ear. His eyes were still red but he didn’t cry anymore.

“But what if I already have? And I’m just so… _ruined_ that I don’t know how to have a normal relationship anymore?”

“You’re NOT ruined”, Donghyuck said and touched Jaemin’s chin gently so that he could look at him in the eyes. “Do you have feelings for someone?”

“Maybe? How do I even know, I haven’t dealt with actual feelings in such a long time, I don’t know how to deal with them anymore. All I ever do is hookups, I don’t want to hurt someone who has a sweet and tender heart, I don’t want to ruin that with what I am now”

Why would he think he was ruining someone?

“Did Eric say something to you? Or anyone else?” Donghyuck asked, ready to fight whoever it had been. He didn’t care that he was still sore from his heat, he would kick all of their asses.

“No, no it’s nothing like that”, Jaemin shook his head and hid his face in his hands. “I’m just so unsure and I don’t know what to do. How do I build a real relationship? I don’t know, Donghyuck, I don’t know anything about love!”

“I don’t know either. I don’t think anyone in their twenties really knows”, Donghyuck answered honestly, glad that he didn’t have to go fight someone. “But you shouldn’t try to have a relationship just because you want to have one. That’s a bad basis”

“I know that too”, Jaemin sighed and revealed his face again. “I just feel like… I’ve finally realized what - _who_ \- I want, and I fear it’s too late for me to… to...”

“Have you talked to this person about this?”

“Not yet”, Jaemin groaned. “I’m scared. Since when have I been scared to hit on people?”

“Ever since you realized it meant something”.

Jaemin wasn’t using names but Donghyuck had a pretty good idea of what it was - _Who_ he was talking about. The whole situation had been building up for a while now, Donghyuck had hoped they could get a closure of some kind soon since it was starting to get on his nerves. But this was a turn he hadn’t expected.

Life was full of surprises, wasn’t it?

“Since when have you been such a love expert?” Jaemin asked after a short silence.

“I really ain’t”, Donghyuck huffed. “I just spent four days fucking an alpha I only met a few weeks ago”

“You smell like him”, Jaemin snuggled even closer. “But for some reason, his scent fits you”

“And you, on the other hand, reek of the beta. His smell does _not_ suit you”

Jaemin hit his arm with a little too much force. It was good to see him feeling better. Donghyuck felt like Jaemin had figured something out, maybe, something that had been bothering his mind awhile but Donghyuck needed to sort out his thoughts to understand him.

“So… that’s why you were crying?" He asked. "Because you realized you have feelings for someone and don’t know what to do?”

“Stop asking, I feel like an idiot if you word it like that” Jaemin hid his face again. “I’m so happy for Jungwoo hyung, but I feel like… I’m… maybe… a bit jealous too. Everything was so easy for him, he dated but he never slept with anyone before Dongyoung, they are soulmates, no one can deny that. But look at me - I don’t even remember the name of the guy who took my virginity, I can’t even count how many people I’ve kissed or slept with and everyone knows that about me. Everyone knows I’m a slut.”

“Stop calling yourself those names”, Donghyuck said strictly. “Your sex life doesn’t define you. And… there is someone who knows it all and still wants you”

Jaemin thought for a moment. And started to cry again.

“Oh my god”, his voice was so high, Chenle would be jealous. “Can you imagine? And… And… I’m going to be an uncle!”

Those were happy tears. Aggressive happy tears.

Donghyuck looked at him for a second more, before something clicked in his head.

“Jaemin, when is your heat due?”

“In a week”, Jaemin wiped his tears to the pillowcase. “I was going to move it with pills but I don’t think it’s working out. I spent too much time with you when you were in preheat, I’m going to go into a sympathetic one”

Donghyuck grimaced. That explained a lot. Of course, Jaemin’s emotions were real and valid but the nearing heat made him a lot more sensitive. Crying over things that he normally wouldn’t, overthinking, stuff like that.

“Sorry ‘bout that”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault”

Both he and Jaemin had long preheat periods - they would sometimes last for over a week, mild but still annoying. Donghyuck had cravings, Jaemin cried. With pills, the proper heat usually felt like a very long period of preheat that never resulted in an actual one. But if Jaemin said that he was about to go into a real one, then he was probably right. He knew his body - much better than Donghyuck knew his own.

“What are you going to do?” Donghyuck asked. Jaemin sat up, his legs still tangled in the blanket, and Donghyuck followed.

“I think I’m going to have to go home”, Jaemin admitted. “I don’t want to go through the heat here. Besides, it’s not like there is much left for me to do anyway. You don’t need my help”

“I didn’t want to make you feel like that”, Donghyuck said. Jaemin seemed way too sad, he hadn’t wanted to make him think that he wasn’t needed. “I thought it would be better if we did our own things. Searching is boring as hell, you wouldn’t have liked it.”

“Maybe you’re right. That worked fine until not”, Jaemin shrugged. “But… I feel like I haven’t spent time with you in ages! We’re in New York City for God’s sake. I still have a few days to spare - go out with me, Donghyuck!”

That might be exactly what they both needed.

So, they did. They went to see a musical on Broadway, something Donghyuck had dreamed of doing but had all but forgotten when he had started his search. They went to see the aquarium in the city and they also went to a spa for a day, to pamper themselves a little, and Donghyuck’s tired feet and his hurting back felt healed and new afterward. 

He preferred Mark’s massages though. But that was just a personal opinion.

Speaking of the elder - he spent that time at school. The 16th had been a Wednesday, so the following Thursday and Friday Mark went to his lessons and studied what he had missed, while Jaemin and Donghyuck went on dates around the city, so they stayed apart for a few days. Maybe it was good for them - they both had time to clear their heads as well as their bodies. Donghyuck noticed that he started missing the elder’s scent though, and he kept sleeping in the dark green hoodie that he had borrowed from him, so many days ago when they had played the guitar in his dorm room. It lost Mark’s smell soon, and Donghyuck was greatly annoyed by that.

Maybe it was just his natural yearning for the alpha who had knotted him during his heat. Or maybe he just liked his smell because he missed _him_ . Maybe it was both. Either way, his time in New York City was running out, and developing feelings for an alpha who he would never see again wouldn’t be healthy for him. He knew already, that leaving a friend Mark behind would sting. He didn’t want to have to leave Mark-who-he-had-feelings-for behind - god only knew how much _that_ would hurt.

Donghyuck had to buy plane tickets for when he would have to eventually leave as well. Jaemin was leaving on Monday the 21st because that was the absolute last moment he could do it if he wanted to be back home for his heat.

Two weeks. After he would be gone, Donghyuck would give himself two weeks in New York. Even if he didn’t find his father by then, he would have to leave on Monday, February 4th, so that he would make it to his graduation with a few days to spare. Two weeks and he would give up.

So until then, he would have to give it his all.

…

On Saturday, Donghyuck and Jaemin cooked. They had cooked there before because Donghyuck didn’t exactly have enough money saved for him to be able to eat out every night for weeks. This time it was different though. Because this time, they went all in and invited Johnny, Jaehyun, and Mark to spend the afternoon with them.

Because Donghyuck hadn’t figured out a good way to pay Mark’s friends back for their efforts yet, and he knew that he didn’t have much money nor time, so dinner and wonderful company it was. Johnny had to go to work again at eight so they ate dinner earlier, Donghyuck and Jaemin managed to get everything done with mediocre success - they only burned two side dishes, and replaced them with something Jaemin had quickly found from the nearby ethnic market. They cooked bibimbap and kimchi stew, something they hoped the guys would like as they probably didn’t get to eat that much of it in America. It was such a stereotypical omega thing to do, preparing a dinner for the working alphas and betas. But it was a nice thing to do so what was wrong with doing something stereotypical for once?

People needed to eat, gosh.

Donghyuck had asked permission from the owner of the flat through Yangyang, and he had sent him a screenshot of their discussion.

**Me 15:38  
** Yo Chitta mind if my friends throw a party?

 **Ten 15:59  
** The fuck yeah I do

 **Me 16:20  
** Sorry, they asked me to elaborate: apparently, it’s just a dinner with max 4 guests

 **Ten 16:28  
** Then sure  
As long as the mfs don’t steal my stuff  
And don’t have sex on my bed  
Or you know what, they can have sex on the bed but NOT on the couch, it’s sacred only for me

 **Me 16:32  
** K

So, that was a pretty clear yes. At four o’clock Donghyuck added the fried eggs on the plates and Jaemin opened the door for their guests.

“Perfect timing”, Donghyuck heard him sing from the door. “You can leave your shoes here - we prefer not to wear them indoors - the kitchen is this way, come on in”

He would be such a great host. Or a daycare teacher. Jaemin was charming, he could play out any character he wanted - right now he used his powers to lure in sexual partners but maybe with time, he would learn to use it for different purposes as well. Jaemin had shown a lot of growth during the past couple of days: he hadn’t flirted with any of the staff at the spa, only a little with the aquarium tour guides but they _had_ been discussing the mating habits of different sea creatures so... Donghyuck couldn’t exactly expect miracles from Jaemin in such a short time. He was really trying though, to let go of his past habits, and at that point, it was all that mattered.

“It smells so good in here!” Johnny exclaimed as Donghyuck made his way to the kitchen door. He was drying his hands on a towel and he was still wearing the ugly apron they had found in the cupboards, but he wanted to be there to greet them too.

“Well, what did you expect? We are omegas after all”, Jaemin closed the front door and walked away from the chaos that was three men removing their shoes in the tiny hallway. 

“Still, I didn’t expect you two to be master chefs”

“Wait until you taste it”, Donghyuck smiled, and he really meant it - in both good and bad. Some ingredients that he was familiar with had been difficult to find in New York and he had made a panic call to his mother while cooking but the result smelled good.

Jaemin took all of their jackets and put them in the hangers just to make the transition a bit smoother. Donghyuck watched as Mark removed his hat and fixed his hair before locking eyes with him.

“Hi”, the older said, with a small smile. Donghyuck couldn’t help the feeling of falling in his heart. This was the first time he and Mark met after his heat, the first time that feeling attraction towards him couldn’t be explained by his hormonal rotation. 

“Hi”, Donghyuck just smiled back and tried to brush those thoughts aside.

“You know what, now that I’m inside it feels even weirder”, Jaehyun said as he looked around, curiously. “Don’t you feel it too?”

“Yeah, definitely”, Johnny answered. Jaemin and Donghyuck exchanged a look, but this was a discussion they weren’t a part of. “It’s almost like I’ve been here before, but my memory is so hazy. It must be just a coincidence since I don’t remember exactly”

All five of them made their way to the kitchen and sat down. Donghyuck and Jaemin had collected them full plates already, just like how bibimbap was supposed to be made, and they were all very impressed by the look of the servings. Jaemin served them all drinks and then they started to eat. The food was surprisingly good, Donghyuck felt like he got to pay back a bit at least.

Jaehyun and Mark had both assured him that he didn’t need to pay back, it was alright, but still.

They fell into an easy conversation. Jaemin talked about his trips around New York and the others joined when they had some stories to share from the places. They talked about music too, and Jaehyun wasn’t nearly as embarrassed to hear that Donghyuck had heard Whiplash as Mark had been. Donghyuck’s eyes found Mark’s often, a bit too often - they were just glances since both of them shied away soon. They were sitting on the opposite sides of the table, and Donghyuck could feel electricity spread around his body whenever Mark’s feet brushed against his. It was annoying - Donghyuck didn’t want to feel different with Mark. 

At some point, the discussion switched back to the apartment, which seemed to be bothering both Johnny and Jaehyun a lot. 

“How did you end up living here?” Johnny asked and sipped his water. 

“We have a friend who knows the owner from somewhere”, Jaemin helpfully explained when Mark brushed against Donghyuck’s foot again. Could it even be an accident anymore? Donghyuck stared at the alpha, who looked very innocent, focusing on his food.

“Why is he not here?”

“Oh, he’s on a tour or something. He is a dancer so apparently, he isn’t home a lot”

“Dancer, you say”, Johnny turned to Jaehyun. “Do we know any dancers?”

“I don’t… think so?”

Johnny seemed to fall into deep thought and Mark stopped touching Donghyuck. He felt annoyed, so he kicked Mark lightly and when the older turned to look at him, he looked down. _Very mature, Donghyuck, very mature._

Then, Johnny snapped his fingers and pointed at Jaehyun. 

“The Halloween party! In your senior year!”

Jaehyun gasped and dropped his chopsticks. 

“Shit no way!”

“What did you say the name of the owner of this apartment was?”

The sudden exchange was so intense, Donghyuck didn’t know what to answer when he was targeted. He hadn’t even been listening, not really.

“Uh”

“Chittaphon, I believe”, Jaemin filled in. “Can’t remember his last name, it was Lee-something”

“Ten Lee”, Jaehyun said, like he couldn’t believe his own words. He looked around the kitchen like he was seeing it for the first time. “No fucking way”

Ten. Chitta-something also went by the name of Ten, that was what Donghyuck had seen on Yangyang’s screenshot. He had long ago stopped questioning Yangyang from his friends who seemed to have a million different names, but how could Jaehyun know the name?

“What’s going on?” Mark asked, voicing what the three youngest were furiously thinking. Johnny and Jaehyun turned to look at them, as though they just realized that they were not alone.

“Oh god”, Jaehyun hid his face in his hands and sank into his chair.

“Um, it’s a long story”, Johnny sounded a bit embarrassed. “But we… I think we’ve been here before”

 _“What?”_ Mark asked in English.

“Yeah, it was a few years back. We met the owner of the apartment, Ten, at a high school Halloween party”

“Yeah, well, he had just graduated from the same school as us. Do you remember Ten, Mark? The Thai dancer, a year older than me, made that mad conducting performance for his graduation project?” Jaehyun explained, a light blush creeping to his face. 

Mark shook his head, unsure.

“Okay, whatever. So, we... talked to him in the bathroom of a costume party, and... he asked if we'd ever smoked weed and... And… we had some and then he drove us to his apartment and… uh…”

“Yeah, in the end, we just had a threesome on his kitchen floor”, Johnny finished before Jaehyun managed to cover his mouth.

Silence. Each of them glanced at the floor and then back up. And the only thing Donghyuck could think of was… 

How the _fuck_ did Yangyang know this guy?

"Small world, huh?"

**_Renjun 23:29  
_ ** _YOU SENT JAEMIN AND DONGHYUCK TO A CRACK HOUSE_

 **_Yangx2 23:29  
_ ** _Chill, everyone smokes something nowadays  
_ _And it’s not like he’s there to lure them to sin_

 **_SungieBaby 23:30  
_ ** _Lol as if they would need any luring_

 **_Renjun 23:30  
_ ** _NO ONE ASKED YOU_

 **_Jen 23:30  
_ ** _Jaemin, do you need a ride from the airport when you come?  
_

 **_Nana 23:30  
_ ** _Yes, that would be wonderful <3 _

**_Hyuckie  
_ ** _@yangx2 how do you even know him?_

 **_Yangx2  
_ ** _Mutual friends_

 **_Chenle_the_dolphin 23:30  
_ ** _If you just want to talk to one person then do it PRIVATELY  
_ _YOU DON’T NEED TO DO IT IN A GROUP CHAT_

 **_Renjun 23:30  
_ ** _WHY ARE YOU HERE IF YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR ANYTHING_

 **_Chenle_the_dolphin 23:31  
_ ** _THAT’S A GOOD QUESTION_

 **_Hyuckie 23:31  
_ ** _I CAN HEAR YOUR SCREAMS IN MY HEAD WHEN I READ THESE MESSAGES  
_ _I’M GETTING A HEADACHE JUST THINKING OF COMING BACK_

 **_Chenle_the_dolphin 23:31  
_ ** _THEN STAY THERE_

 **_Nana 23:31  
_ ** _That’s not very nice_

 **_SungieBaby 23:31  
_ ** _Lele is generally not that nice_

 **_Chenle_the_dolphin 23:31  
_ ** _You like that tho_

 **_SungieBaby 23.32  
_ ** _Maybe_

 **_Nana 23:32  
_ ** _What_

 **_Jen 23:32  
_ ** _What_

 **_Hyuckie 23:32  
_ ** _What_

 **_Renjun 23:33  
_ ** _SERIOUSLY YANGYANG WHAT THE FUCK HOW COULD YOU_

 **_Yangx2 23:33  
_ ** _STOP IT’S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to include Ten somehow! And this is what my animal brain came up with so  
> HAVE A GOOD DAY BYEEEE


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To my lovely subscribers: because of the maintenance you may have not gotten an email when I uploaded the last chapter so make sure to read that first!

_“Mark”_

_“Mmh?”_

_“Why are you doing this?”_

_Donghyuck was lying against Mark, his head on his chest as he kept drawing lazy circles on his bare stomach. He listened to his steady heartbeat, his breathing, and he felt his arm tighten just so little around him. It was comfortable, a quiet moment during which they didn’t need to do anything. They had finished fucking away yet another wave of Donghyuck’s heat just a short while ago and enjoyed the short moment when Donghyuck could be painless, calm, and less hot._

_The first two days, they had always separated right after having sex. Mark had gone to get water or cook something or just to give Donghyuck some space. But now, they took their time. Donghyuck wasn’t as delirious anymore, the heat wasn’t as intense, and Mark stayed with him for cuddle time. Pillow talk time._

_“You ask that often”, Mark said softly, as he kept stroking Donghyuck’s hair. Mark smelled nice, not just his alpha but all of him, and Donghyuck had gotten to know his body well. They fit in together like they were made to be like this, lying on the bed with their legs tangled, not knowing nor caring about the time. During times like these, however, when Donghyuck got knotted and his head got a bit clearer for a short while, different questions and doubts started swimming in his head._

_“Do I?” Donghyuck hadn’t realized. But he had thought about it a lot, ever since the first day they had searched for his father together. And the question only kept growing, as the older did more and more favors for him. Now that he was in Donghyuck’s heat bed with him, had been for a while, Donghyuck couldn’t just play it off as Mark being nice for niceness sake. Because if he were, the limit would be drawn here._

_“Yeah, you kind of do”, Mark hummed. “Maybe not with those exact words but still.”_

_“Why do you never answer properly, then?”_

_Mark thought for a while._

_“Because I don’t know how to”, he admitted. “You need to elaborate”_

_Donghyuck sighed._

_“Why do you help me with my heat when you don’t have to?”_

_“I don’t want to see you suffer when I know I can do something about it. And… well, isn’t it obvious? ”_

_“Yeah, kind of, but…”, Donghyuck’s voice faded. Because it was, alphas liked taking care of omegas in heat, because that basically meant they were free to fuck them exactly like it was natural to them - aggressively, with no prepping or asking, there was no need to care about feelings and omegas were in no position to say no to anything. That was what alphas loved doing, generally. But Mark didn’t do that - he still cared, he asked, and he did much more than just knot him. He took care of other things too, such as, he cooked them food (or tried to) and he took care of Donghyuck physically in ways that didn’t benefit him at all._

_Why do that to a stranger when he didn’t have to?_

_“What about this whole search?” Donghyuck said instead of questioning Mark more of his heat assistance. He wouldn’t want to endanger it since it was so good he didn’t want it to end. It wasn’t like Mark would be that mean, but he knew that he could be kind of an ass._

_“Mmh, that’s a tricky one”, Mark caressed Donghyuck’s side with his thumb as he thought. That little action, just a mindless touch of skin, felt so intimate. Maybe it was just the heat, Donghyuck was so much more sensitive and the butterflies in his stomach kept performing such crazy circus acts, Donghyuck wondered were they ever going to calm down._

_Not as long as Mark was there. That was for sure._

_“I think it was just out of curiosity at first. I was bored”, the older said quietly. “I got invested in it quickly, in all of this. I don’t want you to think that I’m a pushover, I wouldn’t do this just for anyone, but… If I can help someone reunite with a missing part of their family then maybe, just maybe, I can pay back a little. God only knows how easily I left mine behind”_

_Donghyuck thought of it for a moment. That was an odd reason._

_“But they’re alive and well, right?” He said. “You can always contact them, make everything right”_

_“I know”, Mark sighed and pulled Donghyuck ever closer. “And maybe I should, but I grew into an adult without them, I don’t really know them anymore and… I don’t want to say that I don’t care, but we were never close. Far from it. No one made the effort and now I feel like it’s a bit too late. You, however, came all the way here to find someone you’ve never met, ready to form a bond because you value family so much. I don’t think I would have bothered”_

_“You’ve always known your biological parents”, Donghyuck argued. “You know where you came from. There is nothing left for you to discover so it’s easy to let go and live your life. I’m missing something, that’s why I came, not because of any high and noble reasons”_

_“Maybe. I’m not saying we’re similar, we’re anything but. If I can help you finish a chapter in your story, or maybe start a new one, I’d be honored to do that. I’ve always been pretty selfish, and maybe I still am because my reasons for helping you are not purely out of niceness alone. But… yeah. I just want to help. Can’t that be enough?”_

_“Yeah”, Donghyuck muttered. “It can be”_

_I don’t know what I was expecting anyway._

_But still._

_Still._

_Why are you so good to me, Mark Lee?_

_And why did I need to meet you here? Now._

_I would have been better off without you_

_..._

On January 21st, Jaemin flew back to Korea.

“So, what did you do to Eric?” Donghyuck asked as he sat on top of Jaemin’s pink suitcase so the younger could pull the zipper closed.

Jaemin and Donghyuck had spent three days together but on Sunday evening they had parted - Jaemin to say goodbye to his affair, Eric, and Donghyuck to plan his search with Mark again. Donghyuck had felt a bit awkward with the older so he had been sending dozens of texts to Jaemin, just to get some moral support, but the younger never even opened his messages. He had come home late, and there they were, at five o’clock in the morning, waiting for Jaemin’s taxi to arrive to take him to the airport.

Donghyuck hadn’t felt like getting up, but Jaemin had dragged him out of bed to help him. Because, as they were both idiots, the packing beforehand had been anything but effective. Jaemin had so much stuff, they had mixed their clothes and everything that could be lost, was. By the time Jaemin finally got his suitcase closed, Donghyuck was wide awake and hated it.

“We had goodbye sex and he told me to call if I’m ever in New York again”, Jaemin answered, and Donghyuck raised his brows. Jaemin’s cheeks blushed bright red.

“I panicked, okay?”

“Yeah, it happens”, to Jaemin, apparently. Old habits died hard, Donghyuck knew that very well. The past few days after Jaemin’s breakdown he had noticed some things change though. Jaemin was much more thoughtful, he was working on himself. This small slip - if it could even be called a slip - was nothing in the bigger picture. 

“You gonna call him?”

“Nah”, Jaemin hushed Donghyuck away from on top of the suitcase so he could lift it. “Eric is too hyper for me. I mean, he is a good guy to experiment with and his looks are totally my type, but I think… I want to give my heart to someone gentle, calm, a little less of a prankster. Someone who looks like a samoyed and has an eye smile.”

“That’s oddly specific”, Donghyuck hummed. “But I think I’ve got the right guy for you”

“Really? Such a coincidence, because I think I know where to find one too."

Donghyuck and Jaemin shared a small smile before Jaemin moved to the hallway, the suitcase behind him. If Donghyuck was completely honest, he was worried. Because he knew Jaemin’s nature - Jaemin had always wanted to be free to experiment, to thoroughly explore his options and stay single for that. And Jeno… Donghyuck had known him all his life, he knew that the beta was gentle and sensitive. But he also knew that Jeno had fallen hard. Jaemin had admitted that he wasn’t happy like this and that he had feelings for the beta after all. Maybe he had indeed found something in New York - not the thing he had initially wanted but instead, what he truly needed.

Maybe. Maybe not. Jaemin was a wild card, always had been and always would be. That was one of his charms. Also, he was barely 20, clumsy and forgetful, and reckless. Donghyuck spotted his charger still in the power socket and had to walk to the younger man putting his jacket on, and slide it to his pocket himself.

“Just… please don’t break his heart before graduation", Donghyuck said. "I want to take those silly group pictures and I can’t stand it if you two are awkward”

Jaemin closed the pocket, then the zipper of his jacket.

“Don’t worry, I would never”, Jaemin hugged Donghyuck as a sign of goodbye. They would reunite in two weeks, so it was okay, but they would be a world apart for a while. When he pulled back, he kissed Donghyuck - not on the mouth, but right above the corner of it. 

As Donghyuck watched him go in the staircase, he felt like he was looking at a very different Jaemin. He couldn’t say that he was a great judge of character but… he knew sincerity when he saw it.

…

It got lonely without Jaemin there. Maybe Donghyuck was just a hardcore social butterfly, but before six o’clock he was already walking back and forth, spamming the group chat and getting removed from there twice by Chenle. By eight o’clock he was tired enough to sleep again, and at twelve Mark called him, asking where he wanted to meet.

They moved to make calls to some cleaning service and maintenance firms, places where the employees were often trained by the firm itself. As they did that, they also kept crossing over the places they had already been to, the cafes and restaurants and bars that called or texted them back, saying sorry.

Knowing Baekhyun’s background with dangerous relationships and the usual tendency of workplaces hiding the identity of their workers from random people asking, the only way to find out whether Baekhyun was working there or not was leaving their own contact information there first. Phrases that Mark often used were: _if he has worked for you, let him know about us. He can decide whether to contact us or not, but please let him know. This is very important._ Three very difficult English sentences for Donghyuck to learn. Yet he still had. Because they were repeated many, many times.

Some places took forever to answer, some less so. Every time Mark’s phone buzzed, Donghyuck’s heart lit up less and less until it stopped hoping. So, he just kept crossing names of the places that told them no.

~~**Jimmy’s** ~~

~~**The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog** ~~

~~**Starbucks 188th Street** ~~

~~**McDonald's Kissena Boulevard** ~~

~~**Attaboy** ~~

~~**Burger King Myrtle Avenue** ~~

~~**Mary’s** ~~

Once an entire page had been crossed over on Mark’s old notebook, Donghyuck ripped it off, squeezed it into a ball, and threw it against Mark’s dorm room wall with full force. The older looked at the ball as it flew but didn’t comment on it. His smile had withered too. 

So, they kept calling, crossing names, making plans, and living in Mark’s dorm room because going out was overrated when the weather sucked. Donghyuck arrived early and left very late, Mark made sure to walk him to the metro station every night. Donghyuck didn’t like staying in the apartment alone, at all, so from Wednesday on Donghyuck started coming to Mark’s dormitory even before the older’s morning classes ended. He hung out with Kevin, the other music major who was a year older than Mark, and had advanced enough that he didn’t have to take the early lessons in the mornings anymore. When Mark came, the older Canadian left for his lessons, and he returned in the evening. 

Mark and Donghyuck explained their mission to him as well. Kevin reacted with fresh enthusiasm which was nice to see, and he was good company. He played the keyboard, so sometimes all three of them played something together, just to get their thoughts away for a short while. Donghyuck only had to spend the nights alone. It was somewhat bearable.

Jaemin went in heat on the 24th and made sure to inform the group chat about it. No one volunteered to help him, as usual.

Or rather, no one volunteered to help him _publicly in the chat room shared with seven people._ Donghyuck stressed a little while thinking of what his friends might be doing, but only a little. Jaemin was an adult, Jeno was an adult, they made their own decisions and took responsibility for them.

On the 25th of January, Kevin went to a party with the boys of his class. He asked Mark and Donghyuck if they wanted to join, to clear their heads a little. They both declined the invitation. However, they did go out by themselves - to the park Mark had shown Donghyuck a while back, the Liberty State Park. It seemed to be one of Mark’s favorite places.

It was nearing eight pm. There were some people here and there, making their way home and wherever they needed to be. A bunch of students passed them by, all obviously in the mood for celebration.

Donghyuck was usually good at reflecting the good mood of the people around him. He wasn’t in the mood now though. He warmed his hands against his mug of hot chocolate that they had bought from the nearby coffee shop. They walked on the shore and tried to think of positive things. 

The picture of Manhattan looked very different now than it had two weeks ago. The city lights were so bright and movie-like against the dark sky. Donghyuck had lived in Seoul all his life, so the view wasn’t that breathtaking to him than it probably would be to a person coming from a small town - however, there was something about New York that no other place had. The feeling of hope, of endless possibilities. New York City, the place where dreams came true with hard work and talent.

A shitty city where a person could get lost to, never to be found again.

“We still have over a week left”, Mark tried to cheer him up. “And even if we don’t find him now, it doesn’t mean you will _never_ find him. So many people have heard about him and us, the word will reach him eventually”.

“What if he doesn’t want to be found?” Donghyuck kicked a small rock out of his way. “If he has just told his boss that he doesn’t want to contact me, and they told us a bland no. And now we just keep looking around like fools!”

“Do you think he would be that cruel?” 

“I don’t know! I have never met him!”

Mark’s phone rang again, and Donghyuck reached to take the notebook from his backpack. There were only a handful of bars left to cross over. 

Someone was playing the guitar on a park bench, although it was late. Donghyuck looked at him as Mark spoke on the phone. Had his father started like that too? The Baekhyun that he had seen in the pictures - the one with such a wide smile and thick eyeliner, not giving a fuck about what other people thought about him. Had he been sitting here, on the streets of New York, singing to the people passing by? Had he been heartbroken, homesick, lonely?

Was he even here anymore? Where had he gone, and why had he left everything behind?

“Yes, actually, he is right here beside me”, Mark switched to Korean and that sparked Donghyuck’s interest. He turned to look at the older who was smiling a little, looking back at him with a hopeful expression. What was that about?

“Do you want to talk to him? Yes I’ll- yeah, sure, I’ll just give the phone to him, just a sec”

Donghyuck lifted his eyebrow as Mark handed him the phone. He mouthed _what_ but Mark just shook his head and urged him to answer. So, that was what he did.

“Um, hello?”

“ _Hi, is this Lee Donghyuck?”_

The man on the other end of the line said his name with an unsure tone.

“Yes, it is”

“ _Great_ ”, Donghyuck heard the man take a deep breath. “ _It’s, uh, I’m Byun Baekhyun. I think I’m your father.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dunn


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got 4/5 from my thesis which is a very good result for me! I’m really happy! Thanks to everyone who wished me luck, and good luck to all of you who are still doing schoolwork/work!
> 
> Here's the chapter we've all been waiting for, so, let's dive in!

Donghyuck almost dropped the phone. He looked at Mark with wide eyes and the older’s smile almost reached his ears. This was it. He was on the phone with his biological omega father! 

“Are you serious?” He gasped with a way too high voice. 

_“Yeah, I think so”,_ the man laughed nervously. _“You were born sixth of June, 2000, right?”_

“Yes, it was written on a note”, Donghyuck gasped. He looked over the river to the city lights that seemed to be shining a different light now. “How did you… how did you find me?”

 _“Your friend left this number at the bar I work at, Sunset”,_ Baekhyun explained. _“But honestly, I should be asking you that. How did you know where to look?”_

“Do Kyungsoo told me, you had used his number to call the orphanage ten years ago. But even he could only give me strands”

Donghyuck fell on his knees on the asphalt.

“Do you know how fucking hard it was to find you?” He yelled, but his anger grew into relieved laughter quickly. “I’ve been looking for ages! Who doesn’t have a profile on any internet platform nowadays?!”

 _“I’m sorry, honestly, I don’t use my real name anymore. That’s why I only found this number now, written on the back of a receipt in a hurry”,_ Baekhyun seemed to relax at the other end, and he chuckled. _“But props to Kyungsoo, I knew I could always trust him”_

“He fed me samgyeopsal and showed me pictures”

_“Oh god, you must have seen a lot. I was crazy in high school”_

“Apparently”, Donghyuck glanced at Mark who was eyeing him with interest but trying his best to give him space. This was a moment that Donghyuck had been waiting for, probably for years at this point. He was talking with his omega father, biological omega father. The person who was responsible for his existence.

 _“Are you still in New York, Donghyuck?”_ Baekhyun asked, and Donghyuck nodded furiously although he couldn’t see it.

“Yes, I am!”

 _“Oh, good, that’s a relief”_ , Baekhyun answered. _“Then, would you like to come to my place, to meet me? I live near Manhattan, you can come here by subway - sorry, I don’t have a car”_

The warmth spreading in Donghyuck’s heart locked away the cold wind, only filling him with joy.

“Yeah, sure, of course, that’s why I’m here!”

_“That’s great! How about I send you my address via text message? I have a shift today, in just a few minutes actually, but I’m free tomorrow.”_

...

When the call ended, Donghyuck looked at Mark for a few beats.

“Well?” The older asked although he had heard most of it. Donghyuck handed him his phone back. 

“It was my father”, Donghyuck said. “You left our info in the Sunset bar and he got it from there”

Donghyuck jumped and Mark only had a second to prepare before he had his arms full of omega. Donghyuck hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek.

“You found him! You found my father!”

“We did it together”

“But still, I never would have been able to do this without you!” 

Mark was starting to struggle under his weight so Donghyuck got down, pressing another kiss on his cheek and giggling out of excitement. He had found him! He had finally found him! It was almost February already, he would have to leave the city soon to make it to his graduation and he had been losing his hope but now, he had him! 

Mark’s phone buzzed with a notification - probably Baekhyun, sending the address. Donghyuck hugged Mark again, just because he could, and the alpha didn’t pull back but rather steadied him, his hands placed hesitantly on Donghyuck’s hips.

To think that this alpha was the same one that had fucked him into oblivion just a bit over a week ago.

“It was a joy to help”, Mark said, a smile evident in his voice. “I’m happy for you”

“I am, too”. Donghyuck pulled away and hit Mark’s arm playfully. “I guess you weren’t just an annoying alpha with big words and no results, after all”

“ _What_ \- is that what you thought of me?” Mark gasped, acting offended. Donghyuck laughed and looked up to the sky above. The cloudy sky of New York was colored light brown by the light pollution, but it looked like it was smiling at him. It might snow today. 

That would be perfect.

“Wanna go eat somewhere?” Donghyuck turned to Mark. “Anything. My treat”

Mark smiled. “Sure, I know a good place”

_..._

Standing in front of the door, Donghyuck felt nervous out of his mind. This was it, he was going to meet his biological omega father and nothing would stop him anymore. He would find out whether the guy was an alcoholic now, or a drug addict, or... At least he had a job so that was a good sign. Donghyuck would finally hear why he existed and why he had been abandoned.

Oh, how he wished Renjun was there, to look out for him. Or Jaemin, to give him emotional support. Or Mark, with his endless optimism. He didn’t know what to expect, his thoughts of his father had grown so big he didn’t know what to think anymore. The man was in his late thirties, after all, he had hidden well and he had made lots of questionable life choices in the past. What if he was a psycho? Donghyuck had texted Mark his location before walking into the rather mediocre apartment building, but would the older be smart enough to come to look for him if he never contacted him again? How soon would he get worried? Would it take him hours or _days_? Donghyuck would starve in a few days!

Okay, now he was only overthinking. He took a deep breath, slapped himself across the cheek gently to get rid of the thoughts, and just pressed the doorbell. He heard the sound echoing in the apartment and soft barking.

Oh god oh god.

The door opened slowly and a man peeked out. The moment Donghyuck saw his face, he knew he had come to the right place. He looked a bit older, his hair had been colored to a soft brown shade instead of purple or blonde and he had no eyeliner on, but it was definitely him - Byun Baekhyun, his omega father.

“Hello?”

“Um”, Donghyuck tried his best to make his voice work. “Hi! I’m Donghyuck.”

A small dog, welsh corgi, waddled out of the apartment to smell Donghyuck’s shoes but Baekhyun didn’t do anything about it - he just stared at Donghyuck with an unreadable expression on his face. There was surprise, maybe happiness but something almost sad there as well. 

Baekhyun reached out and Donghyuck froze when he felt him touch his cheek. This man was a stranger, but at the same time, he was anything but. He cupped Donghyuck’s face softly and looked into his eyes with so many feelings swimming in his own, Donghyuck didn’t know what to think. What to do.

“It really is you”, Baekhyun’s voice was barely a whisper, and he looked like he was about to cry. This meeting must mean at least as much to him as it did to Donghyuck. Maybe. He didn’t know. A thousand thoughts were running in his head when Baekhyun brushed his thumb against his cheek tenderly.

“Yeah”, he also wasn’t sure if he was supposed to answer that, but he did anyway. Baekhyun chuckled, but now there were definitely tears in his eyes. He pulled Donghyuck in a hug, still in the hallway, not caring at all if his neighbors saw or about the dog that was still standing in their feet, wiggling its tail and eyeing Donghyuck curiously. 

“I can’t believe you’re here”, Baekhyun whispered as Donghyuck hugged him back. He was warm, the same height as Donghyuck, and his build was similar as well. Still, he wrapped Donghyuck in a safe and comfortable hug that he never wanted to leave. This was the man he had gotten half of his genetic code from. Maybe it had something to do with that. Donghyuck breathed in his scent which was familiar and comforting, and he knew for sure that this was it. 

After a while, Baekhyun finally let him go. He ruffed Donghyuck’s hair affectionately (his mother also did that quite often but he always backed away from that) and smiled again, looking happy despite having tears in his eyes.

Then, he finally seemed to snap out of it and stepped back so that Donghyuck could enter the apartment.

“Oh my, come in, come in! Mongryong, leave H- _Donghyuck_ alone! Sorry, this place is a bit of a mess. You can leave your shoes here. Do you want tea? Coffee? Ice cream?”, he rambled as he walked in and Donghyuck followed, after leaving his shoes and jacket in the hallway. The apartment was small and just a little messy, indicating that the person living there wasn’t a perfectionist but not a pig either. It looked like it had been cleaned up just a short while ago, but there were pieces of clothing and some random stuff left here and there out of habit. 

“So”, Baekhyun said as they both sat down on a sofa in his living room, with big bowls of ice cream in front of them. Mongryong was sitting in front of them, eyeing the treats curiously. It had obviously been trained not to beg but… It was good to stay close, _just in case_ some ice cream dropped. Because it was ice cream, come on.

“What brings you here, Hae- um, Donghyuckie?”

“Um”, Donghyuck had just put a huge spoonful of ice cream into his mouth out of nervousness and he swallowed it quickly. “My adoptive parents told me that I was adopted when I was 14, but I feel like I’ve always known. I wanted to meet you, figure out what happened in the past and… I don’t know, just figure out who I am I guess”

“What is your family like? Do they treat you well?”

“Yeah, they do”, Donghyuck nodded. “I have an alpha father and an omega mother, and two younger sisters. We live in a small house in Seoul.”

Baekhyun kept nodding, listening to him carefully. Donghyuck didn’t know exactly what he should answer, what the man wanted to hear. Like, was he supposed to tell him about the good things? But would that make him sad, knowing that Donghyuck’s life was good without him? But if he told him about sad things then would he become sad or feel guilty? But he didn’t need to! Or was he just asking to be polite? Because he was a good person and that was a nice thing to do? 

_AAAAAAA WHY WAS HE SO NERVOUS????_

“Are you nervous?” Baekhyun asked, tilting his head, looking for Donghyuck’s eyes. He was smiling a little, and his voice almost sounded mischievous. He sat there, cross-legged on the sofa, wearing an oversized hoodie, looking even smaller than Donghyuck. Their eyes finally met again, and Donghyuck realized Baekhyun’s eye color was the exact same shade of light brown as his.

Eye color? Check, he got that from his omega father. He also obviously got his height from him, and maybe his soft cheeks too? 

This man was his father, for god’s sake. He had literally carried him and taken care of him when he had been just a helpless infant. 

“Yeah, a little”, Donghyuck said honestly. Honesty had never been the best asset with his adoptive alpha father, but Donghyuck usually sat with him like this only when he had done something wrong. It was different with Baekhyun, it would always be different with him.

If he stayed in his life after this. It was completely up to him though.

“Don’t be”, he said. “Sorry, I’ve just been interrogating you. I just wanted to know how you’ve been. We didn’t exactly part in good terms. Wait, that sounds weird - I mean, our time together wasn’t easy”

Donghyuck swallowed.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“Of course”, Baekhyun answered. “Where would you like to start?”

_Why did you give me away? Why do I exist? How did you get me? What happened during those two months? Why do you not use your real name? What genetic diseases run in our family? Who is my alpha father and where is he? Why did you leave Korea?_

That was quite a list. Lots of questions that could be hard to answer, questions that could have painful answers and that might be difficult to talk about. However, another question had bloomed in his mind just a few minutes ago.

“You keep calling me Hae”, Donghyuck said carefully. “What does it mean?”

_Good, Donghyuck, that’s a much better way to start._

Baekhyun looked thoughtful for a moment. Mongryong finally gave up on the ice cream and curled into a ball under the sofa table. Baekhyun had mentioned that the dog loved everyone willing to pet it, so it had been very friendly to Donghyuck. However, it was now staring at him. Maybe it was just confused with Donghyuck - he was someone that the dog had never seen before, yet he smelled very similar to its owner. Dogs were crazy good with scents. 

“When you were born, I gave you a name”, Baekhyun finally said, twirling his spoon in the partly melted ice cream. Oh. Oh, right. Donghyuck had gotten his given name from the orphanage and the family name from his father. It made sense that he had had a different name before.

“A name? What was it?"

“It was Haechan”, Baekhyun said, smiling a little at the memory. “Full sun”

_I’m sorry. Please take care of my sun._

“Haechan”, Donghyuck tested the syllables in his mouth. It was an unusual name but he found it cute. People called him Sun sometimes because he was a bright summer child, and he also enjoyed covering Taeyang whenever he got the chance. But to hear that the person who had given birth to him had taken a look at him and given him the name full sun… he didn’t know how to feel exactly, but he liked it.

“The day was so sunny back then when you were born", sadness found its way to Baekhyun’s eyes as he looked somewhere far away, behind so many years. “I thought that was the only thing that fit”

Why had Baekhyun given him away? Donghyuck’s childhood had been safe and happy, he wouldn’t exchange those moments with anything else, however… It could have been very different. It could have been just as happy. Hyunhee had said that his father had kept him for almost two months before abandoning him on the doorstep. There must be a story there.

A story that could be painful. 

Donghyuck didn’t want to push him.

“It sounds very nice. People still call me sun every now and then”, Donghyuck said instead, to maybe cheer up the atmosphere that had turned sadder very quickly. Baekhyun smiled a little but it seemed forced.

“I’m not saying that Donghyuck is a bad name, not at all”, Baekhyun said. “It just undermines the fact that I couldn’t raise you as my own”

“Is that why it wasn’t on the note? My original name, I mean” Donghyuck asked.

“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons”, he took a deep breath. “I was… heartbroken when I had to give you away. I was also scared, I had already introduced you as Haechan to people, I feared they would find you and- okay, this must not make much sense to you. How about I start from the very beginning?”

And in the small, quiet apartment on a Sunday afternoon, Baekhyun started to unwrap their history. The questions of the past that had formed tight knots in Donghyuck’s heart, all started to come undone in his father’s hands. In the hands that had held him lovingly, almost nineteen years ago, and given him away.

“Back then… I’m not sure what Kyungsoo told you, but back then my parents were very strict. Traditional, so to say. I was always kind of rebellious, and they let me do some things in the end as they got tired of my constant struggling - I had an older brother who was perfect, so, they let me be a bit freer. Just a tiny bit. However, there were some things that they didn’t let me do. One of them was dating. Of course, I was young and stupid, so I started going out just to spite them. I would go home with visible hickeys on my neck, and _oh god_ did my mother yell at me.

It was in the middle of this phase of mine that I met your alpha father. It was in the summer of 1999, he came to Korea as an exchange student of some kind. He was older than me, mysterious and handsome and I was just absolutely swept off my feet. I was young and naive but I do believe I had strong feelings for him, and he liked me in return.

So, the classic thing happened. We were inseparable for the whole fall and when he left in November, I was heartbroken. We had no means to really keep in touch so it died down there. However, only a few weeks after he had left, I realized that I was pregnant with you. Yeah, I was almost in my fourth month already before realizing - that tells you something about how crazy my life was back then, how irresponsible _I_ was. Also, my heats were irregular as hell, and I hadn’t had any morning sickness nor other obvious signs. You hid well.

I decided not to tell the alpha because he lived so far away and would never have understood. Because I knew right away that I wanted to keep you. I may have been reckless, I was still immature, but my omega was ready to take care of you. I had to hide it for as long as I could though because I knew my parents would lose their minds.

And I managed until… Was it February? March? It was easy to hide under big hoodies in winter and pretend that I had just put on a few kilograms. People didn’t question anything until spring came. And when it did come, my parents found out. It would be an understatement to say that they were angry. They were disgusted and disappointed and in pure rage, they chased me out of the house and I had to seek shelter from my friends. I stayed at Kyungsoo’s for a while, since his parents were much more understanding than my own, and I rented an apartment by myself in May with my savings. I didn’t have much, but I was planning to get a job, _something._

I went to see a doctor a few times, to check that everything was alright, to do the prenatal screenings, and so on. However, I was a minor, so they were obligated to call my parents. I managed to talk them out of that, believe it or not, back then it was possible, by giving them a fake name, lying, paying well, and never going to see the same doctor twice. I always went alone to not raise any suspicion. It was… It was hard as it was, so thank god you were always healthy and alright. I remember thinking that you were already helping me, we were a team, we made do with what we had.

Giving birth to you… I was alone. I know that I should have gone to the hospital, but back then I was so scared that they would take you away from me, that I just didn’t. I was underage, my parents would have ordered me to give you up and I didn’t want that. So, I gave birth to you all alone in my small apartment. I’ve never in my life felt so scared and alone, it was dangerous and we both could have died had anything gone wrong. But nature knew what it was meant to do and we got lucky. Holding you against my chest after… nothing had ever felt more right to me”

Baekhyun had tears in his eyes. Although Donghyuck didn’t really know him, he felt like he did. He moved even closer to him and wrapped his arms around him. Omegas needed physical touch when they were sad, they craved it naturally. When alphas tended to be hostile towards one another and fight, omegas flocked together. The emotional and physical closeness of omegas was what had kept the packs united in the far history, not the violent nature of the alphas.

Donghyuck thought of his omega friends, Jaemin and Jungwoo, and all of the girls he knew, and they all needed physical touch to feel better after crying. So that's what Donghyuck wanted to give Baekhyun. His father might be older but he was an omega, still. And the way he leaned on Donghyuck and answered the hug told him that he had been right.

There was a lot in the story that Donghyuck needed to process with time. But right now, all he could feel was his omega father’s sadness, so his priority was to comfort him. Questions could wait.

“Ah, sorry, you shouldn’t be the one comforting me”, Baekhyun chuckled joylessly and fetched a napkin from the sofa table, where he had left them earlier, just in case. “I mean, you’re here now. And you’re alright, right?”

“Yeah”, Donghyuck answered. Mongryong had sensed the sadness of his owner as well since he jumped on the sofa and demanded to get to his owner’s lap. Baekhyun chuckled again at its antics and had a bit more joy in his voice already. He touched Donghyuck’s face again, as though checking that he was still real and right there. Donghyuck leaned to the touch.

“Yeah, well, where was I? Right, well, some of my friends came to my apartment just hours after I had given birth to you and demanded I go to the hospital. There was a lot of fighting and convincing that had to be done since I wouldn’t let go of you - hormones go everywhere during that time, and I was hurt and weak. But they managed to find a way.

Back then, if you gave enough money to the doctors, they kept their mouths shut, even about something as big as this. They checked me and you and let us go, and some of my friends stayed over for a few days to help but they also had their lives to live. I had just turned 18 in May, 19 in Korean age, we were all so young. But I didn’t care about any of that. You slept beside me on the foam mattress since I couldn’t afford anything else, I watched you sleep and observe the world around you with your big eyes and that was the most wonderful thing for me. The timing was bad in all ways possible but you were a miracle, a blessing, I felt happy”

Donghyuck realized he was the same age as Baekhyun had been. A bit older. And he couldn’t imagine going through any of that. If he went home and realized he had fallen pregnant for Mark, he honestly wouldn’t be able to stay strong. Even if he had his family there to help him, he just knew he wasn’t mature enough.

His stomach sunk at the thought. Of course, that shouldn't happen since he and Mark had taken good care of birth control. But it was never 100% safe. Donghyuck would have to be on his toes for a while.

Baekhyun hadn’t looked like he was ready to be a parent either, in the many pictures that Kyungsoo had shown him. But maybe, under all that makeup and hair dye, there was an omega parent after all.

A parent who had been forced to give their child away.

“Of course, it didn’t last. I couldn’t find a job with you in my arms, and although my savings lasted us for some time, it wasn’t a solution. We had barely enough to eat but I was still happy because I had you. Until… Until I got sick.

I don’t know where that came from. It started in early July so it could have been something related to the pregnancy, or malnutrition, or anything really, but I soon realized I couldn’t keep living like that. We were running out of money and after a few weeks, I couldn’t take care of you anymore. I didn’t have enough money to go to the hospital, and my friends couldn’t help either. So, I was forced to go back home to beg.

It was the first and last time in my entire life that I did that.

Of course, my parents refused to listen. You see, the image was everything to my mother back then, I believe it still is. Me being a male omega was bad enough already since that apparently made me an incomplete son, but the gene was strong in my dad’s side of the family so, I had been cursed with that. They had kicked me out the moment they had heard I was pregnant because I was a disgrace and was going to ruin the reputation of the family. They didn’t want to help me, us, even when they saw me holding you in my arms on their doorstep, barely able to hold myself upright.

There was a very small fraction of empathy left in my mother though, or maybe it was just her desire for a perfect image that I was about to destroy with a tragedy. After we had gone back to my apartment, my beta father called me and set out their conditions - My mother’s conditions actually, but anyway - and the main point was that they would only help me. They wanted me to get rid of you. They didn’t care how, but they didn’t want anyone to know that you were mine, that their son had done something unforgivable - had sex before marriage. Only if I did that, they would take me back in.

I was out of money and I was sick, I feared I would die if it went on like that. And I understood the realities of my world - I couldn’t take care of you. I knew that I couldn't offer you anything: no family or security or a happy childhood with things you would need. I loved you so much, I couldn’t be selfish.

So, with a heavy heart I put you in the basket I had bought with a few thousand won, and left you there, at the orphanage. I had seen children playing on the yard before, I remember thinking that they looked so happy. So, I hoped you would be like them, or maybe be adopted to a nice family that could provide a happy life for you. I waited in the bushes until they opened the door and then I just left. Without ever looking back”

And from that point onwards, Donghyuck knew what had happened. That was the connection he had been looking for. And now, his history was clear. 

There were no drugs, no rape, no human trafficking, no crimes. Just a teenage romance and an unplanned pregnancy. That was it. It was what he had thought of for the longest time. And… that was it. Just a simple mistake that resulted in his life.

“What happened to you?” He asked. “I mean, after I was gone?”

“I went home, and they took me to the hospital”, Baekhyun answered. The memory was obviously bitter to him. “I was hospitalized for three weeks for several infections, I honestly don’t remember much of it. When I got out I went straight back to school, finished my CSATs, graduated, and went to college for a while just to realize that it wasn’t my place, and dropped out. I moved out as soon as I could, and my parents let me go without a word. What happened with you broke our relationship forever, and once I left I never contacted them again. 

I was heartbroken, I admit it. I worked in various companies on minimum wage and drunk alcohol, I made many mistakes and I went through several unhealthy and toxic relationships too. Ten years ago I was kicked out of my apartment and I quit my job in Korea for one last time. I realized that I had passions, there were still things that I wanted out of my life, and my heart was still broken over having to give you away.

So, I lived with Kyungsoo for a while. That was when I called the orphanage, to ask about you. And they told me that you were living a good life. That was when I could finally… let go of you, truly. Nothing was binding me to Korea anymore so I just left. I flew to New York as I’d always dreamed of doing, I lived with another friend until I got everything settled. I dived headfirst into the deep end and it wasn’t easy, but right now, although I know my life isn’t perfect, I’m happy most of the time.”

Donghyuck smiled. That didn’t sound like a perfect life, but if he was happy now, then that was all that mattered. Baekhyun looked healthy, his cheeks were clowning and his apartment looked nice.

But, the last name in the letterbox of the apartment wasn’t Byun - Donghyuck knew it, he had checked it. It said Wang instead.

“Jongdae-ssi told me that you had to hide four years ago”, Donghyuck said. They were being open now so why not ask everything right away.

“Oh, yeah, that”, Baekhyun grimaced. “I… uh, I dated someone four years ago, and when I dumped him, he… he went crazy. He started stalking me and following me around, I thought it would be better if I changed my name and moved further from the main island. I use the name Wang Eun now”

Wang Eun? Wasn’t that someone from history, someone that Donghyuck maybe should know but had never cared enough to learn? Or was it a drama character?

“Yeah, I know, it’s an unusual name and not the best if the intention is to stay hidden”, Baekhyun shrugged. “It was a quick decision, I didn’t really think it through but it has worked out until now”

Oh. Okay. Why was Donghyuck not surprised by the slightest?

“Is there anything else you want to know?”

“Not right now, no”, Donghyuck answered honestly. He felt like there was so much that he had learned, he was going to have to digest it for a while. Baekhyun seemed to realize it too - he grabbed his mostly melted ice cream and started eating it and Donghyuck did the same. 

Baekhyun’s TV was on, to give them some background noise. They both turned to look at it while they ate - Donghyuck didn’t understand much that was going on, but it looked like some kind of a cooking show. Mongryong was lying on Baekhyun’s lap, but it looked at Donghyuck with its cute eyes so he gave the dog some ear scratches. It was comfortable, the silence wasn’t heavy despite them both going through a lot in their heads at the moment.

After both of them had eaten their ice creams (and Baekhyun had let the dog lick his bowl - AHA the dog had KNOWN it would get some after all) the older started to talk again.

“I know you told me that your life is going well. But are you happy, Donghyuckie? Are you really happy?”

“Um, I guess so?”

Baekhyun nodded.“That might actually be the wrong question to ask. You’re in the middle of one of the stormiest times in your life right now, I remember what it was like and I know that it has only gotten worse. You need all the support you can get so, if you let me, I would like to be a part of your life again. However little of a part you want to give me”

Donghyuck fell speechless for a moment. Of course! This was exactly what he had been hoping for! He had only been with Baekhyun for one afternoon but he already knew that he wanted to have him in his life. He wanted to learn more, he wanted to know him. Baekhyun would never replace his parents but he could be another member of his family. A family could never be too big!

He told that much to the older omega.

“Of course! I want to have you in my life!”

“That’s good to hear”, he smiled. “I’m sure your... Parents have already taught you all they can about the world. But I… how are you really dealing with everything? School, work, your dreams - it’s okay to feel like it’s too much because it definitely is.”

“I think I’m okay. I haven’t had any breakdowns yet so I must be very lucky”, he tried to laugh, but his answer sounded faltering even to himself.

Was he happy? Maybe, his childhood had been happy, but now? He was at the age when no one expected him to be happy - he wasn’t _supposed_ to be happy. He was supposed to work for his future happiness, to give his all and a bit more. He was young, he should endure it, he would have time to be happy later.

So no, he didn’t feel happy. He was constantly under stress and pressure, he didn’t know where he was going for the first time in his life, no one was there to tell him what he was supposed to do. He had grown up being pushed around, he hadn’t had any chances to train his wings and now he was just supposed to fly? He didn’t know how, and where, even? What was he supposed to even want out of life?

He had hoped that finding out about his past and his father would help him figure it out. But really, what was it supposed to do? Baekhyun was just a human too, not a God who could tell him exactly what he was supposed to do - if biological parents worked like that then there would be so much less anxiety and depression in the world. And all of his friends would be stable and happy.

None of them were. 

“I know that being a teen can be difficult when you have so much pressure pushing you down from every possible direction”, Baekhyun said. “You have to study, you have to make right decisions, you have to be active, you have to start building your CV, you have to join the extracurriculars, you have to date or otherwise you’re weird and are left behind, but if you do too much of that then you’re a slut and you’ve ruined yourself beyond repair. You have to be a good son, have a good reputation, you have to keep up your friendships, you have to build a network because you’ll get nothing in this world without contacts. And your future is honestly not going to be any better, not in that world”

Baekhyun shook his head.

Donghyuck looked at him for a while. He thought of his times of endless stress and anxiety when studying for the CSATs. He thought of Renjun who had claimed that he would kill himself if he didn’t get to Yonsei (which probably wasn’t true but it told a lot about his determination and the huge pressure he felt). He thought of his and Jaemin’s late-night conversations when they had pondered over why they never felt like they were enough. Donghyuck knew that he wasn’t really one for academia but still, he felt like he had to be good at everything that he did. It was… it got heavy.

“How did you know?” he asked with a small voice.

“I lived through it too”, he smiled sadly. “And I realized early on that it wasn’t for me. I could never be happy in a world where I had to give my all to my work. It’s different here, or at least it feels like it is, now that I’m an adult and no longer tangled in the crazy competitive machine that squeezes every drop of energy out of you and spits you out broken and tired. However, I’ve never been able to have peace for my soul knowing that my child was still over there, slaving away, probably never thinking they’re good enough for the world.”

Donghyuck felt tears in his eyes, but he tried to blink them away.

“Oh, Donghyuckie”, Baekhyun said quietly and pulled him in a hug. “All that I’m saying is, that you can come to me whatever happens. I know your parents are probably great and that I’m still a stranger to you, but I promise to do anything in my power to be there for you now. The reason why I live in New York is that I needed to rip myself off of that craziness that I never fit into. The world is evil for everyone but it’s even worse for male omegas. I know what you’re going through and I promise you: no matter what happens, there is always another way. There is always a way out, and I will always love you. Full sun”

The hug was so warm, comforting, homey.

If Donghyuck cried a tear or two, no one needed to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter was a bit heavy, but I hope you liked it. I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts on it because I’ve worked on this particular chapter for so long.
> 
> Stay safe everyone <3


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bleached my hair (it’s carrot-orange/yellow now, ugh) and burned my skin in the sun and I’m going to work next week. Yay, fun times ahead. Anyways - Over 200 kudos guys oh my god you’re crazy!!! Thank you so much!! <3<3<3<3

“So, tell me - do you have someone in your life that you care about? Someone special?” Baekhyun asked.

“Um no, not really”, Donghyuck answered. He wasn’t in a relationship if that was what Baekhyun was asking. 

“Oh”, he sounded surprised. “I could have sworn I smelled an alpha on you”

Still? He hadn’t seen Mark in nearly 15 hours!

“Yeah, well, I spent my heat with one, not too long ago”, that was the only explanation there was. Donghyuck felt uneasy though, and he moved a bit in his seat. They had moved to the kitchen where Baekhyun was currently preparing fried rice for lunch. 

Yes, they ate ice cream first, then proper food. Not a bad way to live your life.

“Ahh, of course. Are your heats irregular? Because sorry, you got that from me, these can be a hell to deal with”, Baekhyun snorted and paused for a minute. “But, if I’m completely honest, the reason why you’re here right now is my damn irregular heat schedule. So, gotta thank the heavens for that”

Donghyuck chuckled. Of course. Although listening to Baekhyun’s story, it would be easy to imagine him getting pregnant accidentally without the heat forcing him to mate too. Although heats were the peak of fertility for omegas, it wasn’t unheard of that they got pregnant outside of them too - just a reminder of how useless the torturous heat cycle was.

There was one more thing that Donghyuck needed to know, though. One major thing that they hadn’t discussed properly yet. But this felt like the right moment.

“So, my alpha father was a foreigner?”

“Yes, he was”.

Donghyuck swallowed. It wasn’t a problem. It was NOT a problem. Donghyuck remembered being made fun of due to his darker skin tone before, and although he knew that it was a ridiculous trait to make fun of, and to be insecure about, Korea was what it was. The “mixed” people always got bullied and the strict beauty standards were unfair to most. Knowing he was mixed didn’t change anything, it didn’t change him in any way. It was only his narrow-minded brain that jumped to conclusions. 

He knew he was beautiful the way he was. And having more than just Korean blood in him was a good thing, it made him more special!

“Where was he from?”

“China”, Baekhyun answered right away. “Southern China, where people speak Cantonese instead of Mandarin. So, you’re half Canton!”

Okay. Okay, woah. It was just his genes, Donghyuck had to remind himself, but still. Canton. He didn’t know anyone who spoke Cantonese - wait, Guanheng was from Macau, right? So he spoke it? Was his father from Macau? Or Hong Kong? China was so big, there were so many minorities too, and Donghyuck had successfully skipped all geography lessons that had to do with the country.

Renjun had tried his best to tutor him later. But all he had gotten out of that was bruises, dozens of curses targeted at him in Mandarin, and no knowledge whatsoever. That might have been his own fault though - making fun of Renjun’s parents’ homeland was not the wisest thing to do. He had learned that the hard way as well.

“I know, this might come as a shock”, Baekhyun walked to the table to empty the contents of the pan on two plates. “And… I haven’t heard from him since November 1999, so, in almost twenty years. All I truly know about him now, that could be of use to you, is his name. He… we didn’t talk much, not about personal stuff like that”

Donghyuck wasn’t ready to get disappointed again. He had been looking for his omega father - anything beyond that would only be a plus. He didn’t care that he might never find his alpha father. Baekhyun could tell him things about him, that was enough. If he didn’t even know that Donghyuck existed, and had never seen him, what was there for them to even talk about?

But, at the same time… He had gotten half of his genes from the alpha. Baekhyun had carried him, held him, seen him, and in that way, he was much more important. But he had another parent too. Another family tree he biologically belonged to.

“What was his name?” He asked, carefully.

“Kris”, Baekhyun answered. “Or, everyone called him Kris, because no one apparently knew how to pronounce his Chinese name with the correct tones. I don’t know how _Keuriseu_ was any better but for him, it was. His real name was Wu Yifan”

Donghyuck nodded. Wu. So, he had Wu genes in him too.

“Can you tell me about him?”

“Of course! Let me see”, Baekhyun sat at the table with him and handed him chopsticks. 

“As I said, he was tall and handsome, people called him the cold guy because he looked intimidating and didn’t talk very much. That was a lie though - he did talk to his friends when he got to speak his native language. His Korean was accented and difficult to understand, so he didn’t feel confident speaking it. However, he did it for me.”

“How exactly did you meet him?” Donghyuck was so invested in the story, more so than he had ever been before when his adoptive parents had told their story. It had been very different for them though, his adoptive parents were both Korean and they had met at University. Very typical, boring, but _this_ was interesting.

“I saw him for the first time at Han river”, Baekhyun’s eyes were misty when he pictured the scene from so many years ago. “He was playing basketball there with his friends. I had some friends who liked to play too so we asked if we could join. He and his team kicked our asses, your father was especially good at making those three-point shots, and… I don’t know, I thought he was hot, and the feeling was mutual since he came to talk to me after the game despite his language skills being… not that good. We exchanged numbers and the next day we were already- uh, we went for a date”

Sure, Donghyuck knew _those_ dates. He listened and ate the fried rice which was… it had been made with love so it was alright. He had yet again panicked so badly beforehand that he hadn’t been able to eat anything - and everything tasted good when he was hungry. Baekhyun reached for a small notebook from the counter, something Donghyuck had eyed with interest before but hadn’t asked about. It was old, the black cover had been decorated with stickers that looked old too, from the early 2000s at the latest.

“It took me forever to find this, and I almost gave up, but I _knew_ I had taken this with me when I moved so”, Baekhyun opened the notebook from where he had left a bookmark and Donghyuck placed his chopsticks down on the table. The pages he saw had pictures taped on them - there couldn’t be more than one or two per page, and then there were writings all around them. An old diary, perhaps?

“This is him”, Baekhyun turned the notebook around to show Donghyuck. The page in question had been ripped off at some point but it had been saved between the journal anyway. There was text and lots of hearts in there, as well as a small picture. Very small, just a bit bigger than it would be on a driver’s license or passport. It was like a school picture, a simple headshot, the boy in it was wearing a uniform and staring at the camera with a serious expression on his face. 

He looked exactly like Donghyuck had pictured him. He looked very Chinese, he was handsome, and very tanned, even under the light that was pointing at him with all its might to make him look lighter. He had dyed his hair too, lighter with blonde highlights. He also had multiple piercings in his ears - he had taken them off for the picture, but the marks were visible. 

Damn.

“He looks handsome”, he said, not sure of what else to say. He thought of what Kyungsoo had told him about high schooler Baekhyun. He thought of what Baekhyun had told about his phase. This guy… matched that perfectly. 

“Yeah, he does”, Baekhyun smiled a little at the memory. “I whined for a picture for weeks, and then he just gave me this. It’s the only physical thing that I have of him - oh, right, and then there’s you. My phone didn’t even have a camera back then, we had those old Nokias that we used, to call each other. Kyungsoo was the only one who went everywhere with a crazy expensive camera that would be worth nothing now. But back when I was with Kris, I… um… We weren’t in contact then, not really”

“He told me about it”, Donghyuck said, and Baekhyun looked up to him.

“Right”, he swallowed. “I hope he didn’t paint me as someone too bad”

“No, he just told me that you grew apart?”, Donghyuck furrowed his brows. Was there a story there as well?

Oh well, that had nothing to do with him, so he wasn’t obligated to that information. Friends fought all the time, he knew that very well. 

“Right”, Baekhyun repeated. “But anyway, that’s him. I can’t say that I open this journal a lot - one of the reasons why it was lost was that I don’t touch it anymore. However, I wanted to save it for a reason. Because-”

Baekhyun reached out to turn a few pages. And he stopped on a page that had a black and white picture on it.

An ultrasound picture, and date from the year 2000. Him.

“I saved lots of things in here”

“May I?” Donghyuck asked carefully, and Baekhyun nodded. He turned another page. Then another. There were small sentences written here and there, and pictures. There was one of Baekhyun with a round belly, very late into the pregnancy. Then of some baby clothes, he had bought, and then there was him. Donghyuck. Newborn, small, lying on a foam mattress wearing way too big clothes. There was even a picture of Baekhyun holding him, taken outside in the sunshine. It was a bit unclear, and there was a caption written there to go with it - _Nini doesn’t know how to take pictures :P Me and Haechannie, 26.6.2000._

Just a bit before everything had gone wrong. The pictures that his adoptive parents had always lacked from the albums of Donghyuck’s life.

Donghyuck blinked several times, again.

“I only chose to save good memories here”, Baekhyun said when Donghyuck finally handed back the journal. The older took one more look at it and closed it with one hand. Poof, the pages pressed against each other and hid the history that had passed anyway.

“How long are you staying in New York, Donghyuck?” he asked, and Donghyuck returned to reality. Right, that was a valid question.

“I have a week left”, he answered. “I bought plane tickets for Monday the 4th of February, so I have one week”

Baekhyun hummed. “Then, we have to make the most out of it, right?”

  
  


...

  
  


Being with Baekhyun was so easy. Donghyuck had prepared for awkwardness but it felt like it never actually came. Baekhyun made sure that he was always comfortable and happy, well-fed, and that they never got bored. Baekhyun did two jobs - singing in the clubs during weekends and working as a waiter at a small cafe on weekdays. So, he was at work in the mornings but his shift usually ended at three or four o’clock so that was when he picked up Donghyuck and they went to have fun in the city. One would think that Donghyuck had seen the most already while running back and forth with Mark but there was much more yet to explore. The gray city had so many layers, everyone saw it a little differently.

Baekhyun told him so many stories, and he was so funny, Donghyuck could spend the whole day just listening to him retelling their pranks, such as the time when they had pranked Kyungsoo and he got so mad he put a rock in his sock and hit them repeatedly with it. Donghyuck’s view of Kyungsoo changed a lot too. The poor man must have suffered a lot during their school years. Baekhyun told him about the shenanigans of CBX when they had all been in the middle of their quarter-life crisis, living a wild life and playing gigs wherever they could. 

On paper, Baekhyun’s life looked like an underachievement. He didn’t hold a high position in a big company, he wasn’t earning much, he was a college dropout who had lived all his life doing temporary jobs. However, despite that, he was happy. He told Donghyuck about the lessons he had learned from every obstacle he had faced. It seemed as though every wound he had gotten had not only healed but made him stronger instead, the skin grew back tougher and thicker. And despite all that, he still had a sweet side to him.

And even the issue of how Donghyuck should address him had been such a small thing. Baekhyun just told him to call him whatever he wanted, and talk to him casually. Even though biologically he was Donghyuck’s father, Donghyuck already had a father who had raised him and taught him about the world. The relationship that he could build with Baekhyun would never be like that. There was no guide book for how they should act or call each other, they had to decide themselves. Baekhyun was special. 

Donghyuck found it easy to talk to him as well, so much easier than to his own parents. Maybe also because Baekhyun was a male omega just like him, but everything about growing up, the pressure in school, heck, even his love life. Baekhyun listened and seemed genuinely interested in everything he told him. It felt good. Donghyuck was so happy he had found him.

But their time together was limited. 

Donghyuck’s time with _everyone_ in New York was limited. The days slipped through his fingers. And he just had to make the most out of them. Most of the time he spent with Baekhyun because that was what he had come there to do but… He realized that he missed the time spent with Mark a lot.

When he laid in his lonely bed at night, Donghyuck texted with the older. Mark always complained that he had lessons early, but he still kept answering until way past midnight. The only thing that had bound them together had been the search, and now that it was done, they had no business with each other.

They should let go now. Donghyuck was leaving soon.

But.

Donghyuck went to see Mark on Friday when Baekhyun had his shift at the bar. He showed up at his door and they went right back to where they had been in their friendship - Mark played the guitar when Donghyuck sang, they went to get coffee and they talked about Johnny and Jaehyun and Jaemin and music and everything except for time. Everything except Donghyuck leaving. Everything except the two of them. It was foolish, but it would have been even more foolish to hope that anything would come out of it when they were running out of time.

The clock kept ticking.

“A... very close friend of mine is going to accompany me for my gig tomorrow”, Baekhyun said on Saturday when they were eating pasta at one of his favorite restaurants. He had taken Donghyuck out to eat every night, to show him nice places around the town that he had good memories from. “Would you like to come? I can get you in despite your age”

“Really?” Hearing his father sing live? That would be amazing!

“Mmh”, Baekhyun nodded. “I know you probably wouldn’t have any problem getting yourself in anyway but, this time you wouldn’t have to fear getting thrown out. Also, non-alcoholic drinks are super good there”

“Yeah, of course, I’ll come”, he nodded and Baekhyun smiled happily. Donghyuck had three more days in New York, and Sunday night would be the last night he spent there. Ending the trip with a music gig would be awesome, and he wouldn't have to lay in his bed alone unable to sleep, going through everything in his head until the sun rose again.

A thought came to his mind, though. A thought that he knew was a stupid one but... There was something else that he had to do too, before leaving.

“Actually”, he said. “Can I bring a friend?”

…

  
  


“Woah, your father is really singing in this bar? Damn, we were lucky we found this place back then. He must be really good!” Mark rambled as they walked in.

"He is", Donghyuck answered, feeling proud for some reason. Mark was so genuinely impressed and... Baekhyun was his father, after all. His father who had gone through so many hardships to get where he was and who had an amazing voice and stage charisma too.

It was nearing ten o’clock, Donghyuck and Mark had met in front of the bar. Donghyuck had planned it all out - watch the gig with him, treat him to a couple of drinks maybe, say goodbye with no hard feelings and that would be it for their friendship. 

Yeah. Such a good idea. Only, when Donghyuck saw the elder standing there in front of Sunset, his hair styled so that it showed his forehead and his smile getting wider as he spotted Donghyuck - oh no, oh _fuck_ , it was going to sting.

It wasn't like he had worked on cutting the relationship all that well, but he had hoped...

What had he hoped for, exactly?

Mark was wearing those crazy tight skinny jeans too, he looked so good - no, he looked _hot as fuck._ Not like Donghyuck disliked his soft hoodies and fringe, but this was just... young alpha. Mark had put some effort into his appearance and he knew he looked good, he was confident but not arrogant, everything Donghyuck imagined a perfect alpha to be.

Baekhyun had reserved them a table very close to the stage, but still from the side so that they didn’t raise too much unwanted attention. They were young, obviously, and they looked especially young to white people, the majority of the customers in the bar. Mark and Donghyuck bought drinks from the bar and sat down, and that was when Baekhyun decided to start his gig.

When he climbed on the small stage, the attention of the whole club was turned to him. The people clapped and cheered as though he was an actual star, instead of a club singer. Baekhyun was very extraordinary though if Donghyuck dared say so himself, so maybe the people saw something more in him too. Maybe, in a parallel universe, he could be a million-seller superstar.

What a funny thought.

Baekhyun wasn’t there alone - there was a tall guy next to him, holding a guitar. They sat down on chairs in the middle of the stage and Baekhyun adjusted the mic stand to his height.

 _“Ah, hi everyone, nice to see you all again”,_ Baekhyun greeted them, smiling, and waved at the audience. He was speaking in English, so Mark whispered the translations to his ear. Yeah, Mark was his translator. A good translator. Just a translator.

It started as a normal club gig would. Baekhyun performed the first set of songs and took a break, then another, and took a break. He interacted with the small crowd a lot, and Donghyuck was mesmerized just looking at him on stage, in his very element. Maybe it had taken him a while to find what he was passionate about, but he was there now. Maybe Donghyuck would find it too if he kept looking. Life didn’t automatically end at 25, or 35, or even 65. 

He and Mark drank non-alcoholic drinks that the baristas made for them, and chatted between the sets about everything and nothing like they had done when they had met at the nightclub over a month ago. During Baekhyun’s sets, they stayed quiet, and whenever Baekhyun said a few words, Mark whispered the translations to his ear. He translated everything - even when Baekhyun just said thank you or the name of a song. It was unnecessary since Donghyuck’s English skills weren’t _that_ bad, but he didn’t mind hearing Mark’s voice so close and feeling his hot breath against his skin. He also didn't mind it when the older had to lean so close that he had to place his hand on his thigh. Or, when he grabbed Donghyuck's shoulder. Or touched him in any way really.

Shit.

When Baekhyun and his accompanist - who he had introduced as Park Chanyeol - were almost finished with their third set for the night, Baekhyun eyed the audience for a while. When he found Donghyuck he smiled a little and then started to speak.

 _“Actually today, I have a very special guest in the audience”,_ he said and took a long break during which Mark translated it to Donghyuck. _“It’s a long story but, almost nineteen years ago in South Korea, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy that I had to give away.”_

The ladies in the audience, especially the ones in the front row who especially liked Baekhyun, reacted. They sighed empathetically, and Baekhyun chuckled sadly, but his heavier emotions were obviously hidden behind his stage smile.

_“I know, I know, life can be cruel like that. But, just a few days ago, this boy came to my door here in New York. By a miracle or just his own determination, I got to meet him, and get to know him again. He is going to college soon, and I couldn’t be prouder. He is sitting here in the audience today - please don’t tell anyone, he is a good boy, only drinking apple juice from the bar.”_

The laugh that the audience shared immediately took away the heavy tension. Donghyuck felt himself blush as some people turned to look at him. Baekhyun hadn’t pointed him out though, so he could stay hiding in the shadows. 

_“It’s time for the final song of the night. As always, you’ve been amazing, see you again next week and have a great night!”_

...

  
  


_**Hyuckie 23:02  
** [sent a picture] _

_**Yangx2 23:06  
** Woah is that your omega dad?  
Damn he looks so young _

_**Nana 23:08  
** _ _And hot, woah_

 _**Jen 23:08  
** _ _I’m so happy for you Donghyuckie!_

 _**SungieBaby 23:09  
** _ _Your dad is pretty af  
_ _Can’t believe you’re related_

 _**Yangx2 23:10  
** _ _I can’t believe you’re Chinese tho_

 _**Hyuckie 23:10  
** _ _I'm not_

 _**Renjun 23:10  
** _ _He’s not_

 _**Yangx2 23:10  
** _ _But he kinda is_

 _**Jen 23:11  
** _ _Kinda yeah_

 _**Huang Hendery 23:13  
** _ _I told you guys that he has that Canton tan  
_ _But none of you believed me_

 _**Renjun 23:13  
** _ _I don’t remember you saying that_

 _**Hyuckie 23:13  
** _ _Nice to see you here Guanheng_

 _**Huang Hendery 23:13  
** _ _Likewise, Canton brother_

 _**Hyuckie 23:13  
** _ _Oh god_

  
  


Donghyuck said goodbye to Baekhyun outside when the gig ended. Mark had praised his singing skills in his own, over-the-top way and Baekhyun had laughed. A knot that Donghyuck hadn’t even realized he had in his heart, had come undone just like that. As though he had gotten a parent’s approval. 

Baekhyun promised to come to see Donghyuck off at the airport tomorrow so he didn’t feel too sad. Not yet. He watched his father go with a smile on his face - his accompanist, Chanyeol, wrapped an arm protectively around him as they walked, and Donghyuck felt happy seeing it. Peaceful. Everything had turned out to be alright.

Mark had promised to walk him to the metro station again, so Donghyuck turned around to see the older standing there, under the halo of the streetlamp. Shadows were swimming in his eyes, and they disappeared as he locked eyes with Donghyuck. Only small traces of them remained.

“So”, Mark said, with a small, careful smile. “To the metro? One last time?”

“Sure”

They were both quiet as they made their way to the nearest station. It was the last time they would do it, Donghyuck’s final night in New York. Probably the last time he would spend time with Mark, ever. And… he didn’t know what to say. What to do. They walked side by side, their hands brushed against each other a few times until Mark just took his hand. Donghyuck intertwined their fingers, and they made their way down the stairs in silence.

The next train was coming in three minutes. They stood on the platform, hand in hand, looking anywhere but each other.

Mark was the one who broke the silence.

“Donghyuck”

“Mmh?”

“What happens now?”

Donghyuck glanced at the timetable. Two minutes.

“I’m leaving”, he said. “The time has run out”

Donghyuck could feel the ticking of the clock in his heart. And it was picking up its pace, as the end came in sight. One minute.

“Not yet”, Mark said and squeezed his hand tighter. “We still have tonight”

The wind of the arriving metro threw their hair everywhere, the sound of the coming train was like the arrival of the end, it echoed in his bones and pulled him down. Donghyuck turned to look at the older. There was determination in his eyes, and he knew for sure - he couldn’t leave him behind. Not yet. Because he still had one more night. 

“Will you be mine for tonight, Donghyuck?” Mark leaned closer and his hot breath tickled Donghyuck’s lips. If Donghyuck were smart, he would cut it off right now. Leave him, before it got serious. Before his heart got too attached. 

But it was attached already, wasn’t it? Mark was offering him more time - he would be a fool to turn it down.

So, he just let go.

He didn’t answer with words but instead, as the subway train stopped next to them and the doors opened, Donghyuck pulled the older inside with him.

He kissed Mark on the train, not caring at all that someone could see. He was leaving anyway, it was the middle of the night, and the people sharing the carriage with them could always switch. They only had one night left, so they had to make it count - every single second of it. Donghyuck climbed to sit on Mark’s lap on the seat and kissed him like he never had before.

He wasn’t in heat, his mind was clear, yet it felt almost as intense as their first kiss. Mark wrapped his arms around him, as they made out the whole trip - nearly missing their station in the process. The trip from the station to the apartment wasn’t very long, but it felt like an eternity. They kept stopping for kisses and walking proved itself to be very difficult when they didn’t want to let go of each other for a single second.

They stumbled through the doors of the apartment building, and Mark pressed Donghyuck against the wall of the elevator and placed kisses on his neck. Donghyuck sighed and dug his fingers in Mark’s hair, pulling on the short strands to keep him close.

When they got to his apartment, Mark lifted him up and carried him straight to bed. He placed Donghyuck on the pillows carefully, and kissed him full on the mouth, with even more passion than he had dared to show during Donghyuck’s heat. Donghyuck got high from his smell that felt stronger than ever before. His body was mad excited and worked up, he grabbed Mark’s collar to pull him close and keep him there.

The heat sex with Mark had been mind-blowing, however, for an omega in heat any alpha dick felt fantastic. It had been so intense, Donghyuck had constantly been on the edge of bursting and Mark had taken care of his needs the best way he could. Now, however, they could take their time. 

Donghyuck was much more aware of Mark’s reactions. He kissed the tender skin under Mark’s ear and heard the older gasp, his hands wandered to Mark’s lean stomach and he felt the hard muscle relax under his hands. He wasn’t in desperate need of release but rather, he wanted to take his time to make the older feel good. 

Mark had very similar intentions, apparently, only the other way around since he kept finding Donghyuck’s tender spots and kissing him just like he knew Donghyuck liked it. Mark had taken care of him during his heat, he knew exactly what got him going. Donghyuck had trouble thinking straight, Mark was taking such good care of him again. But he didn’t want that now. He wanted to be the one in control.

So, with one swift movement, Donghyuck pushed Mark down against the mattress and climbed on top himself. Mark groaned, surprised, but Donghyuck dived down to press his lips against his neck.

“Hyung”, he said, sucking the skin. He was planning to leave a lot of hickeys - to make sure that everyone would know that he belonged to him. Or had belonged to, at least, for one endless night. These bruises would stay on Mark’s neck until way after Donghyuck was back home, reminding him of this night that was about to become unforgettable. 

“What do you want, hyung? Tell me, and I’ll do it.”

“Me? uhh” Mark was flustered, and Donghyuck smiled against his skin. The older really liked to be called hyung by him, huh? Alphas liked to be reminded of their higher status. Deep inside, maybe, Donghyuck wanted to wake up his animalistic alpha, make him forget about everything else but the physical pleasure. Donghyuck kissed him fully on the mouth again, hungry, taking the other’s breath away.

Donghyuck knew how to take an alpha’s breath away, in more ways than one. 

“I could suck you off”, he suggested, as his hands caressed Mark’s chest. “Or I could ride you until you forget your name”, he whispered to his ear before biting it gently. “Let me take care of you, hyung”

“Oh god, Hyuck”, Mark sounded so sexy, his voice low and filled with anticipation. Donghyuck smiled against his skin and leaned away, just so he could look at him in the eyes. 

“What do you say, alpha?” He asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible. Because he knew that it was hot. And Mark liked it.

“Ride me”, Mark answered his hands on Donghyuck’s hips, right under the hem of his shirt. “I want to see you feel good too”

“Sure”, Donghyuck smiled and leaned to kiss the older one last time. While he was doing so, he made sure to roll his hips against Mark’s erection in the way he knew would make him crazy. He swallowed Mark’s groan on his lips and started to undress.

And he made sure to put on a show while doing it. He removed his shirt slowly so that his bare stomach was on full display. Mark gulped and Donghyuck got even more encouragement. The next thing to go was Mark’s shirt, then their pants, Donghyuck carefully pulled them off making sure that his best parts were always in Mark’s line of sight. Whenever the older reached out to do something, Donghyuck locked his hands above his head with his own.

“Stay still”, he commanded. “I told you I’d take care of everything”

He made sure to swallow the complaints of his lips too.

He wasn’t in heat so he needed more prepping, as well as lube that he found from the bedside table. It was Jaemin’s - the younger had intentionally left it there for Donghyuck to use and although Donghyuck had rolled his eyes at it at first, he was now very happy that it was there. He spread some of it on his fingers and stretched himself as Mark looked, his pupils blown.

Once he took Mark in, he lost all thoughts of ever leaving. Maybe during his heat, he had been able to come several times but this time felt so much better. It felt like they were making love, not just fucking away Donghyuck’s pain. Donghyuck rolled his hips, pounding against the older, moaning as his dick hit his prostate. He changed the pace, to make sure he lasted longer. Because he never wanted it to end.

Their gasps and moans mixed together, the creaking of the bed kept the silence around them away, only providing a background noise that they couldn’t hear anyway. Donghyuck was filled with Mark, in more ways than one, and he never wanted to let go.

His hold on the older weakened, and Mark's free hands started roaming all over his body. Every touch set small shocks through Donghyuck's body, every breath and grunt made his blood run quicker. He felt himself get filled with so much energy, the light of a million suns was beginning to grow inside of him. Such dangerous light and fire, so strong that if left alone, he felt like he could burn everything from his way until they would be left there, glowing red, partly melted against each other in a world where no one else existed.

Donghyuck knew what that meant, although he had never felt it quite as intensely before. He knew that he wasn't going to last for long. But neither was Mark. Donghyuck could feel his knot swell, so he grabbed the headboard for leverage and picked up the pace. They were both panting, and as Mark touched him just right, Donghyuck saw white as the light expanded, and he spilled all over the older’s stomach. Mark came at the same time with a cry, and Donghyuck tried his very best to balance himself as the knot grounded him in place.

The room was filled with the sound of them catching their breaths. Mark still held on to his hips but not as strongly, instead, he caressed the soft skin with his thumbs. He did that often, and it always felt amazing. Donghyuck felt light-headed.

“Hyuckie”, he said, and Donghyuck turned to look at him, still holding on to the headboard. There was always something special about the way that Mark said his name. But now, when his voice was low and raw after sex, it sounded even better. “Come here”

The angle was hard to get right, but Donghyuck placed his hands on either side of Mark’s head and leaned down to kiss him softly. Mark smelled so good, all of the tension was gone from the air and what was left was satisfaction, tender feelings, and… maybe just a little bit of sadness.

No words were exchanged, it was all hidden in the kiss. Kisses. So many things that were hard to say.

_Thank you._

_I’m sorry._

_I like you a lot._

  
  
  


_And I’m going to miss you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, this chapter granted me a VIP ticket to the deepest pit of HELL
> 
> Also, Donghyuck’s alpha father in this universe is Kris. Many of you guessed Kai which was actually a surprise to me, but maybe me highlighting the fact that Donghyuck has tanned skin had something to do with it. Anyway, I know some of you might not be pleased with this decision because Kris is not in EXO anymore, but I had my reasons for it. 
> 
> Also, when I mention Baekhyun and Kris, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Because for me, it definitely is: Oh man, it’s been so long. They were so young back then, look at how far they’ve come.
> 
> Bleb. We have one more chapter left, see you there!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I’m back with the final chapter! (Sorry for taking so long, I just procrastinated, I don’t even have a good excuse) I can’t believe we’ve come this far, I want to thank each and every one of you for reading, extra thanks for those who left kudos, and super extra thanks for your sweet comments! There are a few users who have supported me throughout the story, at least almost - if you recognized yourself, words can’t express how thankful I am to you, you make me want to get better and you motivate me so much!
> 
> One last time: LET’S GO

**_Nana 11:20  
_ ** _[sent a picture]  
_ _Me and nojam are now OFFICIAL_

 **_Yangx2 11:28  
_ ** _Fucking finally  
_ _Congrats guys!_

 **_SungieBaby 11:30  
_ ** _Thank god  
_ _I was getting sick and tired of seeing Jeno’s cow eyes_

 **_Hyuckie 11:31  
_ ** _Don’t be like that @Sungiebaby love takes time  
_ _You’ll understand when you’re older_

 **_SungieBaby 11:31  
_ ** _Mmmh I’m pretty sure I already have an idea_

 **_Chenle_the_dolphin 11:31  
_ ** _Yeah I’m pretty sure he already has an idea  
_ _Because Jisung and I have been dating for the past three months already_

 **_Nana 11:31  
_ ** _WHAT THE FUCK WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME????  
_ _I’M SO HAPPY I’LL CRY, MY BABIES ARE ALL IN LOVE_

 **_Jen 11:32  
_ ** _Good job guys, you made him cry_

 **_Hyuckie 11:32  
_ ** _Ohh @Jen ready to protect his overly emotional boyfriend_

 **_Chenle_the_dolphin 11:32  
_ ** _ew_

 **_Nana 11:33  
_ ** _SERIOUSLY EVERYONE SHUT UP  
_ _JISUNG ARE YOU HOME? I NEED TO COME HUG YOU_

 **_SungieBaby 11:33  
_ ** _Nah, I’m sleeping at Chenle’s_

 **_Nana 11:33  
_ ** _OH MY GOD_

 **_Chenle_the_dolphin 11:34  
_ ** _So…  
_ _If I understood this right...  
_ _Renjun is the last sad single in this group chat_

 **_Renjun 11:34  
_ ** **_操你  
_ ** **_我要去上延世_ **

**_Chenle_the_dolphin 11:35  
_ ** _And that translates to “Fuck you I’m going to Yonsei”_

 **_Yangx2 11:35  
_ ** _Dude, you should write that in pinyin at least  
_ _We need to teach Donghyuck this stuff now_

 **_Renjun_ ** _has removed_ **_Chenle_the_dolphin_ ** _and_ **_Yangx2_ ** _from the chat_

 **_Nana 11:35  
_ ** _Don’t worry baby, we’ll find someone for you too!  
_ _Someone who likes stress and right hooks_

 **_SungieBaby 11:36  
_ ** _And who can handle sarcasm and hostility 24/7  
_ _Ain’t that a challenge_

  
  


“What are you smiling at?”

Mark’s raspy morning voice brought Donghyuck back to reality. He lowered his phone and saw the alpha look at him sleepily from next to him. His eyes were barely open and his hair was a mess. Donghyuck patted some of it down before yelping as Mark suddenly pulled him close to his side again. He had cuddled with Jaemin a lot on this very bed, but this… was so much better.

Sorry, Jaemin.

“Just my friends goofing around”, he explained as Mark pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Jaemin got together with one of my childhood friends, finally, after the poor beta had been making heart eyes towards him for almost five years”

“Oh, that sounds nice. Not for the beta though, I can only imagine what it must have been like, seeing Jaemin run around without him”

Donghyuck hummed. His side pressed against Mark’s, their naked bodies were touching and it felt comfortable, being so close. The images of last night filled his head but he could appreciate just being like this too. Under the same blanket, in the quiet morning.

“I used to call him a fool”, Donghyuck sighed. 

“We become fools when we’re in love”

“You’re being cheesy”

“But that’s the truth, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess so”

Mark tilted Donghyuck’s head a little so he could kiss him. He didn’t make it deeper since neither of them had brushed their teeth yet, but just a little peck to show him affection. Donghyuck filled his lungs with Mark’s scent. It was so comforting and familiar, all about Mark was, and as he wrapped his arms around Donghyuck even tighter, his heart already ached.

“What time is it?” Mark asked quietly.

“Eleven thirty. There are three hours before I should be at the airport”, Donghyuck answered, because that was what the older was really asking. He had been smarter than Jaemin in the sense that he had packed most of his stuff already. However, the cleaning of the apartment… he had done nothing about. 

He had lived with the mindset that if he didn’t clean, if his suitcases were still open on the floor, he wasn’t really leaving yet. He was just fooling himself like that. Well, the day to pay for that foolishness had come.

Luckily he had a very potential cleaner (slave) in the bed with him.

“We should get up”, he said, hating the idea as much as Mark did. “I still have stuff to do”

“Really?” Mark nuzzled closer to him. “Five more minutes… Or maybe hours”

Was he… was he _whining?_

“We should wash up and clean the apartment”, Donghyuck said, amused. Because really, they had half-assed it the night before and Donghyuck really needed a shower now, before getting to vacuuming and cleaning the place. Maybe one after that as well, he wouldn't want to sit in the airplane all sweaty and disgusting.

“Mmh, we should”, Mark murmured, not making an effort of getting up. Had Donghyuck known he had this side in him… He honestly wouldn’t have known what to do with that knowledge. But he wanted to know - he wanted to stay and find out about each and every side there was to Mark Lee, the good and the bad. But he couldn't do that.

Donghyuck brushed the older’s hair.

“I could blow you in the shower?”

“Oh god”

“Come _on_ ”, Donghyuck sat up and pulled the older with him before he started to get sad. “I’ll show you a good time”

And just like that, three hours became two. Then one and a half. Then one. Donghyuck and Mark were a good team, cleaning the apartment and making sure that all of Donghyuck’s stuff was packed. They found some of Jaemin’s stuff too, from the weirdest of places - body cream, two lonely socks, and a small Ryan plushie. Donghyuck had long ago stopped questioning Jaemin so he just packed it with him. He gave the apartment one last glance before locking the door for the last time.

He had made memories in there and grown quite attached to it. It would now wait there all alone until the owner, Ten, came back in early March. Donghyuck dropped the key to the next-door neighbor’s letterbox because that was what they had agreed upon, and went down the stairs to wait for his taxi. _Their_ taxi - Mark had insisted on coming to the airport with him and Donghyuck hadn’t refused. They made out in the staircase until the car was in front of the building, and behaved once they got outside.

The taxi in question didn’t look at all like he had expected though.

“Heyy, Donghyuck”, Jaehyun opened the passenger seat window and waved at them enthusiastically.

“Hey, hyung”, Donghyuck greeted and tilted his head. “Don’t you have work to do? Classes to attend? Why are you both here?”

“Of course we came to accompany you!” Johnny exclaimed from where he had just stepped out from the driver’s seat. “You’re the most interesting omega to have arrived in New York in… what, ten years? Right after your father, I’d assume”

“They insisted on coming”, Mark answered with a shrug as Johnny walked to the back to open the trunk. “You’ll save some money this way, just let them do this.

“May I take your bags?” Johnny asked in English and Donghyuck fought the urge to roll his eyes. 

Johnny and Jaehyun kept talking all the way to the airport, trying to engage Donghyuck and Mark into the conversation but failing. They sat in the back, holding hands, deep in thought. Donghyuck watched the buildings passing by and dreaded the time he wasted just sitting in silence but he didn’t know what to say anymore. He just squeezed Mark’s hand and felt him do that in return. Johnny dropped him and Mark in front of the airport with his bags and drove away to find a parking lot. 

The airport itself was busy as usual since it was the middle of the afternoon. Mark helped Donghyuck carry his suitcase, and check both Donghyuck and the bag in. Donghyuck was grateful for that. He could only imagine what it must have been like for Jaemin with his broken English. Mark was hot when he spoke his native language, Donghyuck had thought of that before and he still did.

Once Donghyuck only had his small backpack, passport and the plane ticket with him, he and Mark stepped aside to wait. Donghyuck would need to go through security with time to spare too, but neither Mark nor Baekhyun nor anyone who wanted to see him off would be able to follow him that far. Johnny and Jaehyun took their time, but Donghyuck had quite a lot of it.

Baekhyun found them easily, despite the huge crowd running back and forth.

“Donghyuckieeee”, he yelled happily and Donghyuck stood up to hug him. He hadn’t come alone - his accompanist, Park Chanyeol, was there with him. He gave Donghyuck a shy wave.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving already when I just got you back”, Baekhyun sounded sad but still energetic, which was a weird combo but he was a special case anyway. Donghyuck felt sad and happy at the same time, a weird feeling as well. 

“I know”, Donghyuck answered, not knowing what else to say. “But we can stay in touch, right?”

“Of course!” Baekhyun pulled away from the hug and squeezed Donghyuck’s cheek affectionately. “It took us eighteen years to reunite. I’ll never let go of you again”

_Ah, no tears, no tears now, Donghyuck no!_

“Lee Donghyuck!” Another scream could be heard, and all four of them turned around to see two supermodels walk towards them - or, wait, it was just Johnny and Jaehyun. Airport fashion on point with styled hair and long, expensive-looking jackets - one would think they were kpop stars getting ready to depart, instead of a college student-part-time-model and a porter. Johnny had even pulled a pair of sunglasses from somewhere, and he looked ridiculously overdressed, in a way that only he could pull off.

“This is Johnny hyung, and Jaehyun hyung”, Donghyuck explained to Baekhyun. He had told Baekhyun about them before so now he just had to match the names to the faces.

“Hi! It’s nice to meet you finally!” Johnny smirked and pulled his sunglasses off. It was borderline cringy, but he was hot enough to pull that off too. 

“Yes, it is!” Jaehyun joined him. “And- oh, hi Chanyeol hyung!”

“Oh, hi! What are you two doing here?”

…

…

...

Wait. 

Wait, _WHAT?_

“You _know_ each other?” Mark was the one who spoke. Donghyuck’s eyes switched between the two and Chanyeol. How-

“Well, yeah, Chanyeol hyung works in the same modeling agency as me”, Jaehyun spoke. “He’s Johnny’s neighbor”

“I told you to spread the word!” Mark said, sounding angry. “To _Every. Single. East. Asian. That. You. Know._ ”

“We did! Jaehyun asked Chanyeol!”, Johnny sounded defensive as he turned to look at Jaehyun. “Didn’t you?”

“I thought you were supposed to do that?” 

“No, we specifically agreed that you will do that.”

“Oh, right, I was going to talk to you about it, remember?" Jaehyun rubbed the back of his neck. "But then… Uh… You… Um I mean I guess we got occupied and... I... forgot?”

The two of them stared at each other for a couple of beats and then turned to look at Donghyuck at the same time.

“Oh god we’re so sorry Donghyuck”

“Really, we didn’t mean to, sorry Hyuckie”

So. What did that mean? If Jaehyun and Johnny hadn’t gotten distracted (or whatever it was that they had done so that they forgot to ask Chanyeol about Baekhyun) he could have found his father so much earlier. Weeks earlier. He could have had so much more time with him, getting to know him. The address that Kyungsoo had given him had indeed led him to the right place - if he had just pushed harder, he could have found Chanyeol, and through him, Baekhyun, even before the new year even started. He had been _so close._

But was he angry? Holding Mark’s hand, he realized that he wasn’t. Because had he found his father right away, he would have never gotten to know Mark. He would have never gotten to know Jaehyun and Johnny like he did now, Jaemin wouldn’t have realized that he needed to change to be happy, he wouldn’t have experienced half the things he had with these people.

Maybe he could have had fun either way. Even more fun. Jaemin would have received the call anyway and maybe he would have gotten the same conclusion nevertheless. Or, they would have just gotten back to their old routine, helping each other out during heats and fooling around, not thinking for a second what it was doing to their hearts. Donghyuck could have still hung out with Mark but… it seemed unlikely.

There was no use in thinking about what could have been. He had had time with his father, and he would have so much more in the future. He was holding Mark’s hand now. The frustration and uncertainty had felt crushing at the time, but succeeding had felt so much better after going through it all. The good outweighed the bad a million times. He had grown, he had learned, he had gone through a journey to get to where he was now. 

So, he just said.

“It’s okay”

And meant it, from the bottom of his heart.

Baekhyun clapped his hands together, to ease the awkward tension.

“Ohh well, small world huh?” He exclaimed, and Chanyeol chuckled. 

“It sure is”

The images of Johnny and Jaehyun having a threesome on the kitchen floor of the apartment that Donghyuck and Jaemin had lived in filled his mind.

The world was small. Unbelievably small. It was as though they were all connected somehow.

In the bright daylight Park Chanyeol looked familiar to him too. As though he had seen him earlier too. Wasn't he one of the guys in Kyungsoo's old pictures..?

But he wasn’t going to ask. Because he was NOT ready for another revelation. Okay, maybe he had seen the guy before, maybe not, that was not important, he couldn’t care less. Maybe all people were connected and the people gathered in the JFK airport on 4th of February 2019 happened to have links to each other that were shorter than normal. Maybe in a parallel universe, they were parts of one big family or something, in the weird universe where they would all achieve their crazy dreams and be saved from too many heartbreaks.

Maybe, in that universe, he wouldn’t have to leave all these people behind.

Leave Mark behind.

They all fell into an easy conversation after that. Considering that most of the people knew each other, it was expected. Donghyuck fell out of the chattering. That wasn’t like him at all, but most people in the ring didn’t exactly know him that well to tell something was out of the ordinary. Mark noticed but he didn’t say anything. He left Donghyuck alone with his thoughts for a short while.

Until Donghyuck knew he couldn’t drag it on any longer. He wouldn’t mind staying… but he had very little money left, and he had to be there for his graduation. He hadn’t seen his childhood friends in a month, he was a bit excited to see them now that so many things had changed.

He couldn’t get everything.

“Guys”, he said to the happy crowd. “I think I should get going now”

“Alright", Johnny said loudly. "We’ll take you as close as we can!”

It wasn’t very close. But it was clos _er_. Johnny and Jaehyun hugged him one more time before stepping back so that Baekhyun could do it.

“I think it’s about time I came to visit my hometown”, he said. “If I do, would you like to meet me? Maybe get tests done, so that we could be recognized as blood relatives, finally”

“Of course!”, Donghyuck smiled as he hugged Baekhyun. They were the same height and they fit into each other’s arms perfectly. Donghyuck knew very well that Baekhyun would never replace his parents because he hadn’t raised him, but Donghyuck still wanted him in his life. He wanted to get to know him, finally, and Baekhyun seemed to feel the same. That was enough.

“Great, because I kind of talked to Kyungsoo about maybe flying to Korea for Easter?”

“Woah, that’s soon”, Donghyuck answered. It was less than two months away!

Maybe going back home wouldn’t be that bad after all. He had given both Jongdae’s and Kyungsoo’s numbers to Baekhyun and he had, according to his own words, figured out many things with his past friends. Donghyuck hadn’t just been a ghost from the past to him - he had been a link to the good things of his past, and knowing that made him very happy. He wasn't really saying goodbye to him now. He was only welcoming him to his life.

Baekhyun stepped back and then, there was only one more person left.

“So”, Mark said as he stepped in front of him, his hands in his pockets. “I guess this is it”

Donghyuck took a step closer as well and embraced him. They lived so far apart, their lives were in different countries and they were both so young. They had only met a month ago. But still, Donghyuck didn’t want to say goodbye to him. 

He had been thinking. And thinking. And thinking. And finally, a thought popped into his head.

And he knew that he was a fool but maybe, just maybe, he was a fool in love.

Maybe he would be forgiven.

“Actually”, he started, quietly. “I have an alpha father in China. You have proven yourself quite good at finding people so… would you like to help me find him?"

Donghyuck pulled away, to look at Mark in the eyes. He had to look up today because Mark was wearing those ridiculous sneakers with height insoles in them - who even used them outside of the entertainment industry? Anyway, he didn’t let go of Mark's hands, but squeezed them and stared at the older, expecting, as the cogwheels in his head started spinning.

“Um… I don’t speak Chinese?” Mark answered.

As though his language ability was the only reason why Donghyuck was with him, still.

“No, but I have friends who do”, Renjun. Chenle. And Yangyang as well. Yangyang’s boyfriend spoke Cantonese so he could be of help too. But Donghyuck could only think of one person he wanted to go on that journey with, and that person was none of his bratty school mates. “You could join us and we would be unstoppable!”

Mark looked into his eyes like he was searching for something, but Donghyuck didn’t know what. He also didn’t know whether he found it or not. Maybe he did. Because the next thing he knew, Mark had pulled him against himself and pressed his lips against his.

It was such a loving kiss, Donghyuck could almost forget where they were. Almost. Because the sweet atmosphere was broken by Johnny and Jaehyun whistling and cheering from where they were waiting a little further away. Baekhyun was probably watching as well. He felt a blush creeping on his face - what did this mean? Was this a goodbye? Was this a yes? Why did he kiss him there in front of his friends when he was usually so shy?

When he pulled away, Donghyuck didn’t know what to expect anymore.

“Do you have plans for next July? I have a holiday then”, Mark just said, a smile finding his lips and it lighted his face. He was so beautiful. 

“Is that a yes?” Donghyuck gasped. He had to make sure.

“Yes. I’ll go to China with you.”

Donghyuck couldn’t help but smile as he jumped to Mark’s neck. He saw Jaehyun and Johnny giving him thumbs up and Baekhyun and Chanyeol had turned away a little to give them privacy, but they were smiling as well. If Mark’s friends were so happy for him despite Donghyuck leaving so soon, then… Maybe they knew something that Donghyuck didn’t. After all, Mark had said that he told them everything.

The clock kept ticking but for once, Donghyuck didn’t feel like it was suffocating him. Because he had found what he had been looking for, and then some, and he had something to look forward to as well. He took one last breath of Mark’s scent and hoped it would stay in his heart until summer. It was only a few months away after all.

“So… goodbye until then?” Mark asked as Donghyuck finally let go of him. 

“Goodbye until then”, Donghyuck smiled and got on his tiptoes to kiss him one last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it, guys. I know it's a huge cliche and everything, I'm sorry, but this was how I pictured it from the very start and I can kill some darlings but not all of them. I'm a sucker for airport scenes. 
> 
> Anyway. Ahem. I may or may not be writing a.... part two. This story came to a natural ending here but I realized that there is so much more that I still want to explore within this setting, I have so many ideas! So, what do you think? Would you be interested in reading that? I'm currently writing a rough outline for it, but I have a pretty good idea of what it is going to be like. I can't promise anything about the timing since I'm going to start working soon, and since it's summer I would really like to spend time outside, and I have many other projects I want to work on as well... however, keep in mind that I have ideas, and the story IS COMING, I just can't promise anything else yet.
> 
> You've been awesome, goodbye for now! Take care of yourselves! MWAH <3<3<3


	15. Chapter 15

Hi everyone!

I just came to tell everyone who is still subscribed to this story that PART TWO IS UP NOW! So, if you want to read more about these cuties then go check out Got ya!

<3<3<3

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, click the kudos button or write a comment if you feel up to that - I'm really insecure so a simple "I liked this" can go a really long way. Thanks for reading and see you all later <3<3


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